Buy Iconic, Distressed Brands for a Euro

"At 8:05 p.m., the Essen district court lifts the insolvency proceedings. With the judge's decision, Nicolas Berggruen is the new owner of Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH as of October 1. Around 40,000 creditors waive two billion euros. The workforce waives 150 million euros. The purchase price for Karstadt is announced as a symbolic sum – Berggruen acquires Karstadt for one euro! The common saying on the street murmurs: "For one euro, I would also buy Karstadt.""

"Even during his studies at the elite Bocconi University in Milan, he founded two start-up companies, which he sold at a high profit. Enter, restore, merge – following this principle, he bought the Italian retail group La Rinascente in 2005 with Investitori Associati, Deutsche Bank Real Estate (RREEF), and Pirelli Re, restructured it, and merged it with the cheaper department store chain UPIM."

"From then on, he lives only in hotels and collects money from various investors. These include pension funds and deposits from small savers. With this money, Nicolas Berggruen buys companies worldwide and follows the principle: "I almost always take over companies that were once successful, have a strong brand and are poorly managed." That is why he is also active in so many industries, "from media to furniture and beverages to flowers and glasses.""

"reviving a run-down department store not only requires skill and dexterity but also luck in a multiplied form. Anyone who dares to take on such a company must know the upcoming trends and the buying behavior of customers. No American department store chain has been able to gain a permanent foothold in Germany. Woolworth had to close its doors, America's leading supermarket giant Walmart has failed in this country, and the English fashion chain Marks & Spencer was also unable to prevail. In contrast, there is again the global success of brands like Foster Grant, Schweppes, or Burger King. Buying these is part of the success strategy of the Berggruen-Franklin duo."