In the dispute over the future of Kaiser's Tengelmann, there is an agreement after a monthly dispute. This has been announced by Minister of Economy Gabriel.
According to Gabriel, the approximately 16,000 jobs of the Tengelmann employees are secured for the next seven years.
Details of the deal are still open. They are to be clarified by the end of next week.
Monthly employees have trembled, and the heads of competing supermarket chains have quarreled. Now there is a solution for Kaiser's Tengelmann. Economic Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) and Verdi CEO Frank Bsirske announced the breakthrough at a joint press conference. According to Gabriel, the approximately 16,000 jobs in the chain of supermarkets are now secured for a period of at least seven years. On request, the Minister stressed that the negotiations had now been resolved, despite the many previous phrases. "I do not assume that there can be any kind of stumbling block for the execution of the conciliation agreement," said Gabriel.
Edeka has been fighting for months to buy stores from Tengelmann. The competitor Rewe blocked the takeover but before court. Now, according to Gabriel, there is a solution with which all three CEOs could live. However, she was secret. In parts it is not yet finalized. This weekend, according to Gabriel, an accountant will clarify how much money Rewe receives from Edeka. According to the minister, this "interest sharing" is only a "technical process".
If nothing is left, Rewe will, according to the Minister, withdraw the complaint against the so-called ministerial permit by November 11th. With her, Gabriel Edeka had allowed to buy Tengelmann stores. It includes conditions, namely the workplace guarantees, which Gabriel has now announced. Only if Rewe actually withdraws the lawsuit can the deal reach.
What this means for the staff in concrete terms, Gabriel left open. Berlin's branch offices of Kaiser's Tengelmann are to be sent partly to Rewe, stores in Bavaria partly to Edeka, several news agencies report and refer to persons familiar with the negotiations. How the division looks exactly, but remains unclear. It is therefore also open to what goes on from the branches in North Rhine-Westphalia. They are considered to be less attractive.
Prior to this, Edeka CEO Markus Mosa and Rewe CEO Alain Caparros had contested a division of the individual branch locations in three conciliation ceremonies led by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD). Tengelmann owner Karl-Erivan Haub wanted to sell his company to Edeka from the very beginning. However, the Federal Cartel Office initially prohibited the deal. Minister of Economic Affairs Gabriel intervened with the ministerial permit. But the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf stopped the ministerial permit after a complaint from the Edeka competitors Rewe, Norma and Markant. Haub finally lost patience and began to offer individual branches for sale.
