Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, Germany’s largest department store chain owned by Austrian Sign Group, has initiated its third insolvency procedure in less than four years over financial issues.

International law firm Noerr, together with Vienna-based Austrian law office Arnold, have advised Signa Retail on the sale of Kika’s Eastern European business to XXXLutz. The parties signed the contracts on the sale of the 22 locations in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia on April 26, 2019. The transaction has included both the operational retail business with over 1,500 employees and the 22 properties.