Retail and tourism company Arcandor AG (Frankfurt, Germany) filed for bankruptcy after its request for state loan guarantees and emergency loans was rejected by the government. The company says its department-store operations Karstadt, as well as mail-order operations Primondo and Quelle, also filed for bankruptcy. The Thomas Cook Group, in which Arcandor holds a 52.8 percent stake, the group's home-shopping channel HSE24 and the Primondo Specialty Group will not be affected.
The company hopes to restructure under court protection from its creditors and keep its Karstadt stores in business. Its operating companies will initially continue business in full, but overall, 43,000 jobs could be in jeopardy.
Department store retailer Metro AG (Berlin), which operates the rival Kaufhof chain, says it wants to resume talks on combining its department-store operations with Arcandor's Karstadt stores. “We're very interested in coming to a speedy agreement with Karstadt, so that a rescue of Karstadt stores won't be delayed by Arcandor's insolvency,” the retailer said.