Today the Bundeskartellamt has cleared without conditions and obligations the acquisition of 88 Karstadt department stores by SIGNA Holding GmbH. The acquisition had been notified to the Bundeskartellamt on 15 August.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "Ultimately, this is merely a change of investor. From a competition point of view, the market positions of the individual Karstadt department stores are not affected by this transaction at all. We were therefore able to conclude our examination of the project within only a couple of days and clear the acquisition. The issue of a 'Deutsche Warenhaus AG' did not feature in the proceedings."

SIGNA Holding GmbH, which is indirectly managed by the Austrian real estate dealer René Benko, acquires the Karstadt department stores from their previous owner, the financial investor Nicolas Berggruen. With the acquisition, all the Karstadt department stores are once again united under one holding. In October 2013, SIGNA had already acquired the three Karstadt premium stores in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich as well as the Karstadt sports stores. The acquisition of several Kartstadt real estate properties by SIGNA was also examined and cleared by the Bundeskartellamt.