Central Group has taken control of Swiss luxury department store chain Globus from René Benko’s bankrupt Cigna Group, the latest transfer from the Austrian lender’s retail arm to the Thai conglomerate. .
The agreement, announced on Monday, only covers the companies operating the stores and does not change the ownership of the respective buildings, which are located in prime locations in the commercial districts of major Swiss cities. Central did not disclose financial details of the agreement.
The Thai group has already taken over control of the company behind London’s Selfridges and Berlin’s KaDeWe from Cigna, adding to its portfolio of luxury department stores in Italy and Denmark.
Separately, Signa’s main real estate arm and Central share ownership of five Globus buildings. Cigna Prime’s bankruptcy trustee said in a July report that Central had expressed interest in acquiring the Zurich store.
Globus’ Swiss real estate assets were valued at 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) at the end of 2022, but a revaluation carried out in December 2023 after the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings valued them at just 892 million euros. The Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported in March that it is estimated that .
As a result of Monday’s agreement, Central will own all seven Globus stores, including the flagship store on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, as well as two stores in Zurich and Basel, which are currently under renovation.
Alessandro Speciale
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