Migros welcomes complete takeover of Globus by Central Group

The Federation of Migros Cooperatives (FMC) welcomes the Thai Central Group’s acquisition of the Signa Group’s holding in “Magazine zum Globus AG”. This means the Central Group is now the sole owner of Globus. As part of the sale of Globus to a joint venture between Signa and Central Group, FMC issued Globus with a loan for CHF 125 million in 2020. This long-term loan was granted directly to Globus, not to the two new owners, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which put strain on the company at the time.

Following the complete takeover of “Magazine zum Globus AG” by the Thai Central Group, the Signa Group no longer holds a stake in Globus. The financial obligations to the FMC will now be borne by Globus and Central Group.

External investigation: no conflict of interest

The investigation into the ancillary employment activities for the Signa Group of a former member of the FMC Executive Board in 2013 have now also been concluded. In January, Migros tasked a leading, specialist law firm with investigating potential breaches of the Migros Group’s Code of Conduct. The former Executive Board member cooperated fully with this investigation.

The results of the external investigation are now available. They indicated there was no conflict of interest and that the ancillary activities did not result in any financial disadvantages for Migros. However, from today’s perspective, this mandate should have been reported as an ancillary activity by the person concerned due to obligations under their employment contract.

Migros has since tightened up its processes on the disclosure of ancillary activities and dealing with potential conflicts of interest. For several years, members of company bodies and, from next year, all senior management of the Migros Group, must report and disclose any ancillary activities on an annual basis.