Building senator backs away from agreement with Signa

Berlin's building senator Christian Gaebler is backing away from the cooperation with the Signa Group. The SPD politician told the Committee for Urban Development, Building and Housing on Monday that the letter of intent signed with the now insolvent company in 2020 was "outdated because the contractual partner is no longer capable of acting". However, Gaebler emphasized that the political goals of the agreement remain in place. This applies to the jobs and department store locations that are to be secured, explained a spokesperson for the Senate Building Department. RBB had previously reported.

The controversial agreement between the Senate and Signa had been reached under Michael Müller (SPD) as governing mayor. The real estate group was given concessions for various construction projects in return for the department stores being retained and developed.

On Monday, it became known that the luxury real estate unit of the ailing Signa Group is demanding around 6.3 billion euros. Of this, around 2.6 billion has been recognized in the insolvency proceedings of Signa Prime Selection AG to date, the insolvency administration in Vienna announced. In addition, there will be claims from other companies in the Signa Group that have not yet been registered, meaning that the final sum will be "substantially" higher than 2.6 billion euros, it said.

Signa Prime's portfolio includes the Berlin department store KaDeWe and a number of properties belonging to the department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. According to the provisional insolvency administrator, the first purchase offers have been received for the insolvent department store chain. Potential buyers have until March 22 to submit binding offers.