The new owners of bankrupt German department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof plan to keep more than 70 of the chain's 92 branches open, the bankruptcy administrator announced on Wednesday.
The new proposed buyers of the company, meanwhile, expressed optimism about the department store chain's potential future and plans to reinvest.
An agreement with a consortium made up of German businessman Bernd Beetz's BB Capital investment firm and US investors Jack Baker and Lucas Evans of NRDC Equity Partners to buy the company out of bankruptcy was announced on Tuesday.
"We are pleased that our plan has been unanimously accepted and supported. We believe in the future of Galeria and have only one focus: the department store," the 73-year-old Beetz said at a press conference on Wednesday in the western German city of Essen, where Galeria is headquartered.
"We want to invest, develop and grow in the long term," Beetz said.
Stefan Denkhaus, the attorney administering the company during bankruptcy proceedings, said the plans to keep at least 70 of the stores open was included in the investor agreement, which was notarized on Tuesday.
However, the signed agreement to take control of Galeria will only come into force if both the court overseeing the bankruptcy and creditors for the troubled firm approve of Denkhaus's insolvency plan.
A meeting of creditors is scheduled for May 28 in Essen. Denkhaus has said he plans to present his full plan before the end of April.
Beetz said the next few weeks would be crucial in order to create the conditions for a solid business model in order to "put Galeria on a successful course."
"What unites us is our love of department stores," Beetz said of his relationship with NRDC Equity Partners founding partner Richard Baker. "It is part of the German way of life."
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof filed for insolvency at the beginning of January, and bankruptcy proceedings were formally opened before the district court in Essen last week.
It's the third time the department store chain has filed for bankruptcy in the past three and a half years.
The company was until recently owned by Austrian real estate mogul René Benko's Signa Holding empire, which ran into deep financial trouble and largely collapsed.
The chain employs around 12,800 people. Further job losses are expected once the new owners shutter at least some stores.
Galeria stores anchor the downtown shopping districts in many cities across Germany, and the company's financial troubles have raised serious concerns among civic leaders about both job losses and the potential fallout for city centres from store closures.
The mayor of Essen, Thomas Kufen, told dpa earlier on Wednesday that he hopes a split from the troubled Signa Holding could offer the department store chain an opportunity for a new start.
"Despite all the optimism, it is bitter that further locations are likely to be closed after the previous waves of closures," said Kufen. "For the employees and their families, they are once again beginning to worry about their personal future within just a few years."
