Management für Immobilien (Mfi), one of Germany’s leading shopping centre operators, has said it would be interested in taking over 20 of insolvent retail group Arcandor's 91 Karstadt department stores. In an interview with financial daily Handelsblatt, Mfi ceo Matthias Böning said he had identified 20 store locations which could be converted and that he would bid for them.
Management für Immobilien (Mfi), one of Germany’s leading shopping centre operators, has said it would be interested in taking over 20 of insolvent retail group Arcandor's 91 Karstadt department stores. In an interview with financial daily Handelsblatt, Mfi ceo Matthias Böning said he had identified 20 store locations which could be converted and that he would bid for them.
Mfi said it would look into an acquisition of the stores as soon as official insolvency proceedings begin on 1 September, according to Handelsblatt. Arcandor's administrator Klaus Hubert Görg said last week that there would not be any sales until that time.
Mfi is the latest company to join the list of suitors for the Karstadt stores. Earlier, rival Metro said it would be interested in taking over 60 stores. In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine over the weekend, Metro ceo Eckhard Cordes reiterated his interest and pushed for a 'quick decision' on the matter.
Arcandor filed for insolvency two weeks ago after failing to secure the EUR 170 mln it needed to keep its total 120 stores operational. Besides the Karstadt chain, the retail group operates mail order firm Primondo and catalogue business Quelle. Travel operator Thomas Cook, in which Arcandor holds a 53% stake, will be unaffected by the insolvency proceedings.
