SIGNA Sports United

The SIGNA Holding was founded in the year 2000 and emerged from the previous company Immofinna from René Benko. In the modest beginnings the company focused on renovating lofts. In 2001 Karl Kovarik joined the company and the first office in Vienna was opened. In 2004 the construction of the shopping mall Kaufhaus Tyrol started. In the following years offices in Munich, Zürich and Luxembourg opened. In this time also large property, like the Deutsche Börse in Frankfurt, were added to the portfolio.

Since 2012: The Karstadt takeover

Karstadt Premium GmbH, Karstadt Sports GmbH and Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH and their sub-divisions were taken over in a series of steps. At the end of December 2012 a portfolio of 17 Karstadt department stores including the Kaufhaus des Westens in Berlin was acquired by Signa Prime Selection AG for a sum of over 1.1 billion euros. The transaction was by far the largest retail real estate investment in Germany in 2012.

On 16 September 2013 it was disclosed that Signa, together with the BSG Group, had taken over 75.1% of the operative business of Karstadt-Premium-GmbH and 75.1% of the operative business of Karstadt-Sports-GmbH from the Berggruen Holding of the German-American businessman Nicolas Berggruen for 300 million euros. This sum was to be spent on the strengthening of the Karstadt Group and the modernisation of individual stores with the aim of guaranteeing Karstadt's long-term competitiveness.

In November 2013 Signa passed on half of its shares – that is to say 37.55% - in Karstadt Premium and the sports shops, to the Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz.

Karstadt Premium operates the three luxury department stores Kaufhaus des Westens in Berlin, Alsterhaus in Hamburg and Oberpollinger in Munich. With its 28 sports shops, Karstadt Sports is one of Germany's leading retailers of sporting goods.

On 15 August 2014 SIGNA Holding acquired 100% of the shares in Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH and the remaining shares in Karstadt Premium GmbH and Karstadt Sports GmbH. The deal marked the final withdrawal of Berggruen Holdings from the operations of the Karstadt Group and from i the ownership of individual Karstadt properties.In the financial year 2015/16 the Karstadt group managed to earn the first profit in years. In the following year the profit broke the one million euro mark. he future focus will include the online business.

Since 2016: Further expansions

Participation in Outfitter

In April 2016, Signa Retail acquired a majority stake in Outfitter, one of the leading sports multi-channel providers. As part of this investment, Signa Retail acquired 60% of Outfitter - the remaining 40% remained with Ron Berger. The founder and former sole shareholder will thus continue to be significantly involved and, together with his managing director Maximilian Albert, will continue to operate the business. The plan is to create conditions for the desired market leadership in Germany with the coupling of Karstadt Sports and Outfitter.

Acquisition of dress-for-less

In August 2016, Signa took over 100% of the designer fashion online outlet dress-for-less., a company founded in 1999 with a presence in thirteen countriesprincipallly e D-A-CH region and in the Netherlands. In 2011, the Spanish-based shopping club Privalia acquired the German company. In November 2015, Privalia withdrew and the management team, headed by managing director Antonio Gonzalo, took over the company. In the meantime, Mirco Schultis - founder of dress-for-less in 1998 - returned to the role of CEO . Sandra Rehm has been managing the company since July 2017 The company employs around 260 people at its headquarters in Kelsterbach, Hesse. The dispatch of the commodity takes place over 60 countries.

Takeover of Internet stores

At the beginning of November 2016, Signa Retail acquired an 87% stake in the specialist mail-order company for bicycle and outdoor products, called Internet stores. The entire management remained on board: Markus Winter. took over as CEO t r October 1, 2016 T As of 2017, Internetstores is active with online shops in 14 European countries. The outdoor portfolio includes the German online retailer Campz and the Swedish internet company Addnature. In the bicycle segment, Internet stores with Fahrrad.de and Brügelmann are mainly active in Germany, with bikers across Europe.

Takeover of Tennis Point

At the end of 2016, Signa acquired a 78% majority stake in the multi-channel retailer Tennis-Point in the sporting goods retail sector. Company founders Christian Miele and Thomas Welle continue to manage the company and retain 22% of the shares. With its range of more than 12,000 tennis and running articles from more than 100 different sports brands, private labels and exclusive brands, Tennis-Point has a wide range of products that are distributed in the 19 online shops and the 12 branches at various locations in the DACH region.

Joint venture for Karstadt München Bahnhofplatz

In a central location in Munich, between the main station and Stachus, Signa Real Estate went in October 2016 in a joint venture with the partner RFR Holding GmbH and has participated in the famous department store ensemble Karstadt München Bahnhofplatz.

Since 2018

On 11 September 2018 Signa acquired the majority of the department store chain Galeria Kaufhof from Canada's Hudson's Bay Company, which had bought the chain in 2013. This takeover allowed Signa to merge its Karstadt department store chain with Galeria Kaufhof. In June 2019 the shares in Galeria Kaufhof still held by the Hudson's Bay Company, were bought by Signa Holding.In June 2019 Signa confirmed, that the French investment holding Société Foncière, Financière et de Participations, which manages the equity stakes of the Peugeot-family, acquired a 5% stake in Signa Prime Selection for €186 million.The New York-based investment company acquired a 5% stake in Signa Prime Selection AG in July 2019.