Signa insolvency administrator does not dare to make an assessment for weeks
Published: Thursday, Nov 30th 2023, 15:30
Updated At: Thursday, Nov 30th 2023, 15:30
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The insolvency administrator of Signa Holding, Christof Stapf, will only be able to assess whether the highly indebted company can be restructured in a few weeks' time. Signa Holding is in debt to the tune of 5 billion euros.
Only at the report meeting on 19 December "will it be possible to assess how realistic the financial plan presented is and whether a restructuring plan can be fulfilled", explained lawyer Stapf in a statement to the Austrian news agency APA on Thursday. On Wednesday evening, Stapf was appointed insolvency administrator for the holding company of the Signa group of companies around Tyrolean real estate investor René Benko.
"We immediately began reviewing the company's financial situation," explained Stapf, who is overseeing the debtor-in-possession restructuring proceedings together with his law firm partner Michael Neuhauser.
Due to its dimensions and complexity, the insolvency of Signa Holding is different from usual restructuring procedures. With debts of 5 billion euros, it is the largest insolvency in Austrian economic history.
"The detailed examination will take the full time until the first report meeting," explained Stapf, who does not wish to make any further comments on the proceedings until then. For him, this is not the first major insolvency proceeding.
Insolvency at SportScheck
There was no news on the Signa Prime Finance bond with a volume of EUR 201.5 million maturing today. Signa did not respond to a corresponding APA inquiry.
Signa Prime bundles properties in prime inner-city locations in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, northern Italy and the UK. Signa Prime reported real estate assets (investment property) of EUR 14.2 billion in the 2022 annual financial statements. In the previous year, it was 15 billion.
While it remains unclear what will happen with Prime, the first consequences of the holding company's bankruptcy are becoming apparent in Germany: the associated German sporting goods retailer SportScheck announced that it was filing for insolvency. The company is said to be insolvent after the holding company filed for insolvency.
Creditors' meeting on December 19
At Signa, the first report meeting and the first creditors' meeting are scheduled for December 19. The audit meeting is scheduled for January 29 and the restructuring plan meeting for February 12. The registration deadline for creditors to whom Signa Holding owes money is January 15, 2024.
The real estate empire built up by Benko has grown rapidly in the zero-interest phase of recent years and has mainly acquired retail properties. The Signa management admitted on Wednesday that the investments in this area had not brought the expected success.
Major construction sites at a standstill
The group owns numerous commercial properties as well as the German department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, which has already been through two insolvency proceedings. In Hamburg, Signa is currently building the 245-meter-high Elbtower. However, the project is currently at a standstill because Signa can no longer afford the reported monthly construction costs of 25 million euros.
The same applies to several construction sites in Germany, such as the Alte Akademie site in Munich. It is unclear how the major Lamarr construction site at the former Leiner location on Mariahilfer Strasse in Vienna will continue. The luxury department store was due to open in 2025, but so far only the reinforced concrete frame has been completed.
Globus parent company seeks protection from creditors
In Switzerland, the parent company of Magazine zum Globus AG, as the department store group is known, has also applied to the competent court for a debt restructuring moratorium. This step is intended to prevent the Swiss Signa Retail Selection AG from becoming dependent on the insolvency proceedings of the Austrian parent company.
Signa Retail Selection will be separated from the parent company and liquidated in an orderly manner, as announced by the parent company on Wednesday evening. This step will enable the business to be wound up in an orderly and transparent manner in cooperation with the administrator, independently of the insolvencies of the rest of the group.
The Thai Central Group, the other Globus owner, had previously reaffirmed its commitment. "The Central Group remains firmly committed to securing and supporting its European luxury businesses regardless of the financial situation of its partners," the group owned by the wealthy Chirathivat family told the news agency AWP.
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