Hudson's Bay (HBC) receives approval for Karstadt JV

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Nov 16, 2018

Two major department store chains, HBC Europe and Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH’s, are joining forces. 

 
HBC and Austrian Karstadt owner Signa announced this week that they received all third party consents to merge HBC Europe and Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH’s retail operations and the formation of the real estate joint venture.
 
The intended transactions are expected to be completed at the end of November.

The companies equally announced that they have received consent for the formation of a strategic partnership from Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, which holds the loan on certain HBC Europe real estate. 
 
This will allow Signa Prime Selection AG, as part of the partnership, to acquire 50 percent of HBC's European real estate portfolio.
 
In September, the companies agreed to merge Germany’s two major department store chains, Galeria Kaufhof and Karstadt after facing hard times in the last decade due to competition from ecommerce players.
 
HBC's portfolio includes luxury, as well as premium department stores and off price fashion shopping destinations, with more than 480 stores.

In Europe, its banners include Galeria Kaufhof, the largest department store group in Germany, Belgium's only department store group Galeria INNO, as well as Saks Off 5th in Germany and the Netherlands and Hudson’s Bay in the Netherlands.
 
The Signa Retail Group operates five independent retail platforms including Signa Premium, Signa Department Store Group, Signa Home & Lifestyle, Signa Food & Restaurants as well as Signa Sports United, continental Europe's largest sports e-commerce platform.