Karstadt No fool

KarstadtQuelle chief Thomas Middelhoff’s time as a media boss has clearly left him with a healthy contempt for the intellect of most journalists. Take his latest scheme: a plan to sell off the German retailer’s properties to repay its E2.8bn debt. Middelhoff figures this is worth doing, so hacks will stop referring to the company as «heavily indebted». Maybe some will. But most will see the move for what it is: a largely pointless piece of financial engineering. Assume Karstadt sold and leased...