What matters to an investor in a Globus store is not the size of the group but its verdict on the individual store: "We assess each of our sites individually," says managing partner Matthias Bruch. The family group from Saarland turned over €8.81 billion gross in the 2024/25 financial year and runs 60 Markthalle hypermarkets in Germany. The Globus leases made public in recent years are for former Real stores, and since 2025 the chain has already left five ex-Real stores.
Key takeaways
• Globus turned over €8.81 billion gross in the financial year to 30 June 2025, €6.8 billion of it in its hypermarkets; we found no public credit rating.
• For a Markthalle the chain seeks at least 6,500 m² of sales area, plots from 45,000 m², at least 650 parking spaces and a catchment of 200,000 inhabitants or more (2026).
• Globus leases can be long — 20 years in Mannheim (2021) — but where its concept is "not fully accepted", the chain hands the store to another retailer or closes it.
Globus, a family group, has traded in three countries since 2025
Globus was founded in 1828. Matthias Bruch represents the sixth generation of the family, and more than 10,000 employees have become silent partners in the company through an employee participation scheme. At the end of 2024 the group spun off its Russian food stores and concentrated on Germany, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg. Like-for-like EBIT rose 4.3% to €254.8 million in 2024/25.
Exhibit 1. An €8.81 billion family group without a public rating
The signatory and the transfer clauses matter more than the logo
Globus is a developer as well as a tenant: the group has its own property companies (Grundstücksgesellschaften) and a team that lets the units in its Markthalle arcades. A large wave of leases reached Globus with the break-up of Real. In December 2020 the Bundeskartellamt, Germany's competition authority, cleared it to take up to 24 Real stores, when the group had 47 hypermarkets in Germany. How many it would actually get, Globus said, depended on talks with their landlords.
How an exit works became clear in 2024: Globus decided to hand five Markthallen to Kaufland, and that required the consent not only of the authority but also of the landlords (LEBENSMITTEL PRAXIS, September 2024). In our experience, the clauses on transfer of the lease and on subletting decide whether the landlord has a say in the choice of successor.
Globus looks for large sites in densely populated regions
Globus's published requirements (October 2026) call for an existing hypermarket building with a main sales area of at least 6,500 m² plus an arcade. Plots of at least 45,000 m² also qualify, if such a Markthalle may be built on them. Globus wants at least 650 parking spaces, a middle- or upper-order central place with a catchment of at least 200,000 inhabitants within a 30-minute drive, and a main traffic axis with excellent visibility. This is large-scale retail, with all the planning restrictions that come with it (see Part 3 of the series German Prime Retail).
Globus's published leases are long, but not open-ended
In June 2021 HAMBORNER REIT AG announced that Globus would lease about 15,000 m² in the Kurpfalz-Center retail park in Mannheim for 20 years from the second quarter of 2022. Both sides planned to invest in modernisation. According to a GPEP release of April 2022, the former Real store in Tönisvorst, with about 8,500 m² of rental area, was let to Globus "long-term". In June 2026 Globus cited the site as an example of securing a location for the long term.
Beyond that, our general experience of food retail holds: indexation only above a threshold, often passing on only part of inflation, and roof and structure (Dach und Fach) with the landlord (Part 10).
Globus exits weak stores quickly, and successors are few
Globus reviews weak sites quickly. It opened the former Real store in Hamburg-Lurup in July 2023 as its 65th Markthalle and closed it in September 2026. Four former Real stores, in Bedburg, Chemnitz, Essen and Wesel, passed to Kaufland in the first half of 2025. In our experience, successors for 6,500–15,000 m² are few, and competition law can rule out the most obvious one: Kaufland dropped Neubrandenburg after objections from the Bundeskartellamt (November 2024).
Implications for investors
1. Measure the store against Globus's own criteria. A sales area below 6,500 m², too little parking or a weak catchment is a reason to price in the risk that Globus leaves at renewal.
2. Read the transfer clauses. The move of four stores to Kaufland required the landlords' consent; the wording decides whether you have a say in choosing the successor.
3. Plan the exit in advance. A hypermarket has few candidate replacements, and competition law can exclude the closest of them.
Before you buy a Globus store:
• Which group company signed the lease, and is there a guarantee from the holding company?
• Is it a former Real store, and how long has Globus traded there?
• What does the lease say about transfer to third parties and about subletting in the arcade?
• How many years remain on the term and the options, and who pays for modernisation?
• Does the store meet Globus's requirements for size, parking and catchment?
• Who could take over the space if Globus leaves?
See also: Kaufland as a Tenant; large-scale retail (großflächiger Einzelhandel, § 11(3) BauNVO); who is responsible for roof and structure (Dach und Fach).
Sources: GLOBUS Gruppe, press releases of 11 November 2025 and 24 June 2026; globus.de profile, history, site-requirements and imprint pages (October 2026); Bundeskartellamt, press releases of 22 December 2020 and 28 September 2026; HAMBORNER REIT AG, press release of 22 June 2021; GPEP, press release of 11 April 2022; LEBENSMITTEL PRAXIS, 22 December 2020, 22 November 2023, 19 September 2024, 18 November 2024 and 24 June 2026; Gordon Real Estate Group, "German Prime Retail", Parts 3 and 10; Gordon Real Estate Group experience.
Photo: Lutz Stallknecht / Unsplash
This page is general information and not investment, legal or tax advice. Company figures are as published by the companies or reported in the trade press on the dates stated.