Overview
- The company filed for a Sanierungsverfahren in Eigenverwaltung on Monday, triggering court supervision and the appointment of provisional custodian Rechtsanwalt Stefan Denkhaus to oversee the process.
- Restructuring partners Prof. Dr. Gerrit Hölzle and Dr. Karl-Friedrich Curtze of the Görg firm have been placed in management to develop a rescue plan and evaluate which of the 46 BayWa locations in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg can remain open.
- About 1,300 employees are affected and their pay is covered for up to three months by insolvencygeld from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit, while day-to-day store operations and online sales continue.
- The insolvency follows Hellweg’s earlier collapse and reflects falling post-pandemic DIY demand, higher energy and rent costs, and supply-chain strains that have hit multiple chains in the sector.
- Decisions on closures, sales or long-term restructuring will be made after site-by-site viability reviews, a process that could lead to further branch cuts and wider consolidation in the German DIY market.