Branches close

Kika/Leiner: Restructuring failed, now bankrupt!

(Bild: APA/MAX SLOVENCIK)

After Kika/Leiner had to file for insolvency for the second time, a restructuring plan was actually planned. However, as was announced on Wednesday, the furniture retailer withdrew this plan and filed for bankruptcy. 

The company had actually wanted to take until mid-January to decide how to proceed with the ailing furniture giant. Until then, the insolvency administrator would have examined whether a positive prognosis for the company's continued existence was possible. 

Company to be wound up,
It is now clear: Kika/Leiner is slipping into bankruptcy. As KSV1870 stated in a press release, the company will be closed down. "Leiner & Kika Möbelhandels GmbH will now be wound up in bankruptcy. This means that at the end of a structured liquidation process, the remaining 17 branches will have to be closed and 1350 employees will lose their jobs," added Jürgen Gebauer, Head of Corporate Insolvency Vienna/Lower Austria/Bgld.

The existing inventory will be sold off, insolvency administrator Volker Leitner told APA in a statement. Due to the failure of the restructuring efforts, both the extent of the liabilities and the number of creditors affected will increase from today's perspective, KSV also stated. When the restructuring proceedings were applied for, it was already assumed that liabilities of around 139 million euros would have to be taken into account. 

All affected creditors can also register their claims at the St. Pölten Regional Court via the Kreditschutzverband von 1870 until January 10, 2025.

Already insolvent for the second time
In November, Kika/Leiner filed for insolvency for the second time. The company had already become insolvent in 2023, shortly after René Benko's Signa sold the Kika/Leiner properties to Supernova in Graz and the operational furniture business to retail manager Hermann Wieser. As a result, 23 of the 40 branches were closed and 1500 employees were made redundant.