XXXLutz bought

Old kika/Leiner stores: investigations closed

The Leiner location in Steyr was closed at the end of July 2023.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

It was a death in installments that caused competition in the domestic furniture trade to shrink enormously: After kika/Leiner had already closed 23 furniture stores in July 2023, the remaining 17 stores also went out of business at the end of January due to insolvency. The fact that a XXXLutz company bought eleven former locations called the cartel watchdogs into action. The investigations have now been closed.

In mid-November, when the renewed economic turbulence at kika/Leiner became known, a deal carried out outside of this became public: furniture giant XXXLutz had secured eleven already closed locations of its rival. "These were acquired as part of a real estate package," confirmed XXXLutz spokesperson Thomas Saliger at the time.

Regardless of XXXLutz's plans for the acquired properties, the purchase of the Upper Austrian company called the Federal Competition Authority into action. The authority announced on Tuesday morning: The investigations surrounding the acquisition process were discontinued because the locations that changed hands are no longer part of the operational furniture retail business and therefore the deal was not notifiable.

Comprehensive information provided on time
This means that the suspicion that the deal was carried out illegally has not been substantiated or confirmed. Both Supernova Invest GmbH as the seller and SAR Leasing Gesellschaft mbH as a subsidiary of XXXLutz had previously provided comprehensive information in a timely manner, it was emphasized.

The company of the furniture giant from Upper Austria had secured the former furniture stores in Steyr, Vöcklabruck, Amstetten, Horn, Mistelbach, St. Johann im Pongau and Unterwart, among others.