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Central Group completes takeover of luxury department stores in Germany with A&O Shearman

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Published Date

Aug 9 2024

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A&O Shearman has advised Central Group, a family-owned retail, real estate and hospitality conglomerate, in connection with the acquisition of the KaDeWe building on Tauentzienstraße, Berlin’s most famous shopping street, as well as the assets of The KaDeWe Group, the operator of three luxury department stores – KaDeWe in Berlin, Oberpollinger in Munich, and Alsterhaus in Hamburg.

As a result, Central Group has become the sole owner-operator of the three most prestigious luxury department stores in Germany under the new operating company KaDeWe GmbH, and the 100% owner of the iconic KaDeWe property in Berlin. Timo Weber has been appointed as CEO of KaDeWe GmbH and Simone Heift as Chief Buying and Merchandising Officer with immediate effect. Timo Weber previously served as The KaDeWe Group’s Retail Director. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Thailand-based Central Group, owned by the Chirathivat family for four generations, is a leading multi-format and multi-category global retail group focusing on physical and digital retail formats, hotels, restaurants and real estate across Southeast Asia and Europe. The conglomerate began its expansion into Europe with the acquisition of Rinascente in 2011. After acquiring the Danish department store Illum in 2013, Central Group invested in The KaDeWe Group in 2015, Globus in 2020, and Selfridges Group in 2022. As a result, Europe has become a key market and strategic focus for Central Group, with a significant senior management presence across various locations.

The A&O Shearman team was led by partner Dr Sven Prüfer (Frankfurt) and counsel Juliane Dieckmann-Keden (Hamburg) and comprised in the core team also senior associate Dr Adrian Lingens (Frankfurt) and associate Johanna Amann (Munich, all Corporate/M&A).

Furthermore, the A&O Shearman team consisted of partners Dr Sebastian Schulz (Employment, Frankfurt), Dr Christian Hilmes (Real Estate, Hamburg), Dr Jens Matthes (IP/IT, Düsseldorf), Dr Börries Ahrens (Antitrust, Hamburg), Catharina Glugla (Data Protection, Düsseldorf), Dr Udo Olgemöller (Public Law), Florian Lechner (Tax) and Wolfgang Melzer (Banking & Finance, all Frankfurt), counsels Dr Hauke Sattler (Restructuring, Hamburg), Dr Charlotte Willemer (Litigation, Frankfurt) and Dr Daniel Bolm (Real Estate, Hamburg), senior associates Dr Sven Gunkel (Employment, Frankfurt), Anna Kräling (IP/IT, Düsseldorf), Dr Stephan Bühner (Public Law, Frankfurt), Alan Markgraf (Banking & Finance, Frankfurt) and Eileen Loebig (Litigation, Dubai), as well as associates Anne Pelzer (Employment, Frankfurt), Carl-Philipp Hoepner (Hamburg), Hauke Jung (Frankfurt, both Real Estate), Mert Gülmez (Antitrust, Hamburg), Damian Snop (Tax, Frankfurt), Pascal Schröder (Data Protection, Düsseldorf) and Dr Friedrich Schellen (Restructuring, Hamburg) as well as executive transaction lawyer Oliver Ahnseel (Real Estate) and Senior Legal Project Manager Jens Nagel (both Hamburg).