Swiss Signa Retail Selection in provisional debt-restructuring moratorium
Published: Wednesday, Dec 6th 2023, 16:31
Updated At: Thursday, Dec 7th 2023, 00:59
Back to Live Feed
The Globus co-owner, the Swiss Signa Retail Selection AG, has been granted a provisional debt restructuring moratorium. This was announced by the Probate Court of the District Court of Zurich on Wednesday in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce.
Attorney Eugen Fritschi from the Zurich law firm Bühlmann & Fritschi Rechtsanwälte was appointed provisional administrator. The duration of the provisional debt restructuring moratorium is four months. It will end on April 5, 2024, the court added.
Orderly liquidation
The debt restructuring moratorium is intended to prevent the Swiss Signa Retail Selection from becoming dependent on the insolvency proceedings of its Austrian parent company, the company announced a week ago. The company will be separated from the parent company and liquidated in an orderly manner.
"This step enables the Board of Directors and the Executive Board, in cooperation with the administrator, to wind up the business in an orderly and transparent manner, independently of the insolvencies of the rest of the Signa Group," said Chairman of the Board of Directors Christian Wenger in the press release. The Board of Directors expects to be able to settle all external liabilities and to sell the assets in a well-organized and structured process over the coming months.
Signa Retail Selection holds a 50 percent stake in Globus. The Thai Central Group, which also holds a 50 percent stake in the department store chain, 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, which is owned by the wealthy Chirathivat family, told the news agency AWP a week ago.
Globus boss sees no threat
According to CEO Franco Savastano, the Globus department store chain is in no way at risk despite the insolvency of the Signa Group. Liquidity is secured and the operating business is running well, the Globus boss said the previous day on the TV program CEO Talk on the regional channel "Tele Züri".
According to Savastano, Signa's problems are more of a shareholder issue. The Central Group is "fully behind Globus". He is also very confident that a solution will soon be found for the Signa stake.
Nor does the Globus CEO want to know anything about an alleged withdrawal of suppliers. "We have had close relationships with our suppliers for decades and they have stuck by us." The renovation work on the Globus store at Zurich Bellevue will also continue and the store is scheduled to reopen in fall 2024.
Further Signa subsidiaries in debt restructuring moratorium
In addition, other Signa subsidiaries in Switzerland have been granted a provisional debt-restructuring moratorium. These are Signa Financial Services AG, based in Zurich, and Signa Real Estate Management Schweiz GmbH, based in Zurich.
A week ago, the debt restructuring court of the District Court of Zurich granted both companies a provisional debt restructuring moratorium of three months until February 29, 2024. Transliq AG, based in Bern, was appointed as provisional administrator for both companies.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic