Austria: René Benko’s Signa Holding files for bankruptcy

The Signa Holding of the Austrian real estate and trading entrepreneur René Benko has at the Vienna Commercial Court bankruptcy requested. She withdrew her application for restructuring. This emerges from a message from the insolvency administrator Christof Stapf. This means that a minimum quota for servicing creditors’ claims will no longer apply, said Stapf.

According to information, the holding company’s assets exist Austrian Press reports mainly from the shares in the two subsidiaries Signa Prime and Signa Development. Both are in bankruptcy proceedings themselves. “Signa Holding as a shareholder would only participate in the proceeds in fourth place,” said Stapf. For the Signa Holding Therefore, no significant investment values ​​are expected from the investments in Signa Prime and Signa Development, he continued.

The creditors of Signa Prime and Signa Development each adopted a restructuring plan in March, according to which they would receive 30 percent of the then determined share of the claim they had registered after the process was completed. Shareholders of both companies agreed.

Previously there was the department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, which belonged to Signa Holding, was sold to a consortium. At the end of November, Signa Holding insolvency Registered. High construction costs, rising loan interest rates and energy prices had brought the trading and real estate group into economic difficulties. The Signa Group owns numerous properties around the world, including the Chrysler Building in New York and the Selfridges in London. In Germany, the unfinished Elbtower in Hamburg is one of their projects.

Since last autumn, various companies in the Signa Group founded by Benko have filed for bankruptcy, including himself as a sole proprietor in March. The Vienna public prosecutor’s office is investigating suspicions of fraud against him. An investigation is being carried out in Munich regarding possible money laundering.