Baumax is now history

Notification of completion was made in Vienna and Prague on 16th and 17th December 2015: Both the closing of the Czech sales process as well as the sale to Supernova could be successfully completed. Consequently, it is also legally confirmed: In the Czech Republic, Obi has taken over four of the 22 existing stores; the remaining 18 stores were transfered to the Polish trading company Cesko. Supernova bought 56 Austrian Baumax properties, which have been flying the new flag since November and as far as the German DIY operators are concerned, the following companies are in operation; Obi (49 stores), Hagebau (six stores) and Hornbach (one store). The nine remaining stores were closed down.
"Well, it's now official that the future of the Baumax stores now lays in the hands of new operators and thus our goal has been achieved. For us as the executive board, it was important to realise the restructuring process especially considering our starting position and to approach the sales process in a considerate way in order not to rock the boat, particularly in the light of the current bankruptcies in this country", says Baumax's sole director Michael Seidel.
From Baumax's point of view, the biggest success has been that almost all liabilities towards suppliers and partners and even the employees could be fulfilled and the banks received a large share of their credit back. "In an insolvency situation, all the interested parties would have been left empty handed - therefore it was absolutely essential for our reorganisation team to avoid this at all costs", Seidel explains.In addition the board managed to negotiate the direct takeover of 3 000 from 3 800 employees in Austria by the new operators. "We were able to directly secure the future careers of around 80 per cent of our employees with the present solution", say Seidel.

Baumax invested a sum of € 7.5 mio in the voluntary social package - which corresponds to an average start-up support of 7 000 to 8 000 € per employee. Personnel manager Michael Pichler adds: "From the 800 employees that weren't directly taken over by the new operators in Austria, 400 have already found new jobs". Baumax supports the job seekers, not only financially. Pichler explains: "We have founded a job portal and helped people…