Expensive bankruptcy also for the tax authorities
State of Berlin guarantees KaDeWe's million-dollar loans
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The insolvency of the KaDeWe Group could also be financially unpleasant for Berlin: According to a report, the state assumed the payment risk of a Corona aid loan in 2020. Up to 18 million euros are said to be at stake.
According to a media report, the insolvency of the KaDeWe Group could cost taxpayers in Berlin up to 18 million euros. As Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) reported, the state of Berlin is currently still guaranteeing loans of this amount for the department store group. Accordingly, the payment risk comes from a federal-state guarantee for a loan of 90 million euros that the KaDeWe parent company took out in 2020 as part of the Corona aid measures.
According to RBB, the federal government is assuming half of the risk for this loan guarantee, with Berlin sharing the other half with Hamburg and Bavaria. The three most well-known department stores of the KaDeWe group are located in these federal states: in addition to the store of the same name in Berlin, there is the Alsterhaus in Hamburg and the Oberpollinger in Munich.
According to RBB, the KaDeWe Group stated that repayments “in a relevant amount” had already been made to the lender. According to RBB, the loan amount currently stands at 55 million euros. The Berlin Senate Department for Finance declined to comment on the amounts mentioned. However, a spokesperson told RBB that the existing collateral must first be utilized before a default guarantee can be called upon. Insolvency alone does not “yet result in a guarantee being called upon.”
The KaDeWe Group filed for bankruptcy at the end of January. Company boss Michael Peterseim blamed the high rents of the insolvent real estate group Signa for the company's financial problems.
