The Hamburg lawyer Stefan Denkhaus, who acts as insolvency administrator for AW Niemeyer, has just made the bitter news public. He had been looking for investors since the end of January. According to the lawyer, six investors had initially signaled a concrete interest in taking over AWN, which is why there was great hope that AWN could be preserved.
From mid-March, however, the number of interested parties after the company audit (due diligence) had been carried out steadily reduced. Negotiations with one of the last remaining interested parties failed last Friday. This is probably mainly because the owners of the branch properties have sought rent increases, but also because of the low margins that can be achieved in stationary retail.
AWN will therefore start the clearance sale at all locations at short notice, which should last until the end of May.
Lawyer Stefan Denkhaus regretted this end for AWN. In a statement, he said: “Most of all, I feel sorry for AWN’s highly motivated workforce of around 100 people. They were willing to make massive cuts in order to help stop the ongoing loss situation. Stationary retail cannot compete with the margins that can be achieved in online trading, but has to keep up with the sales prices. That’s why the decline of large parts of the retail trade in the cities can hardly be stopped at the moment, and AW Niemeyer is an example of this negative trend.”
