Change of Control at Marienplatz: Billionaire Secures Majority in Ludwig Beck Department Store in Munich
Munich, May 31, 2026 – The Ludwig Beck department store at Rathauseck in Munich will now be predominantly controlled by real estate entrepreneur and billionaire Alfons Doblinger. One day after the general meeting, the listed company announced a significant share sale to Doblinger. Following cartel approval, the 82-year-old will hold approximately 77 percent of the share capital and voting rights.
The sellers of a combined 51 percent stake are Nuremberg entrepreneur Hans Rudolf Wöhrl (78) via his Intro-Verwaltungs GmbH, and his son Christian Greiner (47), who has been CEO at Beck since 2010.
End of an Era for Wöhrl-Greiner
This transaction marks the end of the Wöhrl-Greiner shareholder era at Beck. Meanwhile, the publicly reclusive Munich real estate entrepreneur Doblinger, whose fortune is estimated by U.S. business magazine Forbes at two billion dollars, is expanding his power over the department store, which boasts valuable real estate in the city center. Doblinger first invested in Beck at the end of 2020 and has since held a 25 percent stake.
Details regarding the purchase price Doblinger paid to Wöhrl and Greiner, or potential changes at the helm of the department store, were not immediately available. For some time, there have been indications of a power struggle at Beck over the future corporate structure. For instance, at the 2025 General Meeting, the board was not discharged with almost 60 percent of ‘no’ votes, suggesting Doblinger’s involvement. At the most recent General Meeting in 2026, however, the board was discharged with well over 80 percent of the votes.
Rejected Motions and Financial Performance
Motions concerning the appointment of a special auditor or a spin-off of the operational business activities of the ‘Kaufhaus der Sinne’ (Department Store of the Senses) were rejected. These motions were put forward by Karl-Walter Freitag (71), often described as a ‘GM bogeyman’ and shareholder activist, who has initiated numerous legal challenges against public companies.
Already at the 2025 General Meeting, Freitag heavily criticized Beck’s management under Greiner’s direction. His core accusation was that the valuable property was being burdened by the deficit-ridden operational business of the textile department store, which employs approximately 400 people. For the 2025 financial year, Ludwig Beck reported a minimally increased gross turnover of 88 million euros and a slight profit after tax, following a 2.9 million euro loss in 2024. No dividend will be paid again.
Doblinger’s Strategic Interest in Real Estate
Industry insiders suspect that Doblinger is primarily interested in the department store’s approximately 2000 square meter plot of land in a central location. Its market value is estimated at several hundred million euros. According to media reports, Doblinger has also owned large parts of the approximately 3200 square meter area of Galeria Kaufhof at Marienplatz for years.
The self-made entrepreneur Doblinger became nationally known in 1990 through the spectacular purchase of Neue Heimat Bayern, including over 30,000 social housing units, for almost one billion D-Mark. The native farmer’s son from the Bavarian Forest is the founder, CEO, and owner of Dibag Industriebau AG in Munich, which employs around 600 people. Doblinger is also a major shareholder in the world’s leading special civil engineering company Bauer AG in Schrobenhausen, where Alfons Doblinger and his wife Sabine serve on the supervisory board.
Source: https://www.merkur.de/lokales/muenchen/milliardaer-sichert-sich-mehrheit-am-kaufhaus-beck-in-muenchen-94330156.html
