Distressed Asset Branding Play

“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.”

“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.”