The Czechoslovak investment duo of Daniel Křetínský and Patrik Tkáč has struck again this time by acquiring a 5% stake in the American department store chain Macy’s through its investment vehicle Vesa Equity Investment. Macy’s has nearly 800 stores around the United States including 500 department stores, but the company has come under serious pressure from debtors and following the corona virus pandemic is on the brink of bankruptcy. Department stores across the United States have been hit hard by the the rise of online retail and Macy’s and appeared to be one of its next victims. the two investors are reported to have paid just over $84 million for their 5% share which had to be reported to the regulating body, the SEC. The company produced turnover of early $25 billion in 2018. roughly 125,000 of its 130,000 employees were placed on unpaid leave during the pandemic while another 2000 were fired. Macy’s shareprice fell by nearly 66% in the month of February when it announced it would be closing stores until the end of the month a move that was eventually extended to the beginning of May, reports Czechcrunch.cz. Křetínský and Tkáč have been buying up shares over the past year in the German retailer Metro, which operates the wholesale chain Makro in the Czech Republic.
