PRINT THIS PAGE Dawnay, Day Principal Investments and Hilco win KarstadtQuelle department stores19/08/2005. Source: AltAssets. 
 UK-based Dawnay, Day Principal Investments has teamed up with Hilco UK to acquire 75 department stores from German department store and mail order company KarstadtQuelle for a reported price of just under €500m.
The KarstadtQuelle stores sell a range of goods including fashion, cosmetics, accessories and home goods. The large majority of the stores are freehold with an average store size of 5,150sqm. In 2004 the 75 department stores generated sales of €680m and employed 4,800 personnel.
KarstadtQuelle still owns 89 larger department stores.
Guy Naggar, chairman of Dawnay, Day Group, said, 'Dawnay, Day is very pleased with this transaction which represents its first corporate acquisition in Germany and leverages its already successful experience of property investment in Germany. We are excited by the opportunity of working with Hilco to build a market leading local department store business.'
Jeffrey B Hecktman, chairman of the Hilco Organisation, added, 'We are very pleased to have completed this deal with such a high-calibre partner as Dawnay Day and it is a significant step forward in our strategy to expand into Europe. We look forward to bringing our retail restructuring expertise to bear on making the Karstadt transaction a major success.'
In the past few months pan-European buy-out firm BC Partners was also seen as a potential candidate to take over the 75 KarstadtQuelle stores.
Dawnay, Day Group is a diversified financial services group whose businesses include private equity, property investment and finance, corporate and structured finance, and asset management and securities trading.
The Hilco Organisation provides asset-related services to retailers, wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers, direct and on behalf of financial institutions, restructuring professionals, and equity sponsors.
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