Migros and Migros Bank have large sums outstanding with Signa
Published: Thursday, Jan 18th 2024, 16:30
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The Federation of Migros Cooperatives (FMC) and Migros Bank have large loans outstanding with the troubled Austrian real estate group Signa. Following several cantonal banks, the Migros companies have now also quantified the amount of their exposure.
The FMC granted a loan of CHF 125 million when the Globus department store chain was sold in 2020 to a joint venture between Signa and the Thai Central Group, Migros announced on Thursday. This loan was made directly to Globus and not to the two new owners. It was "partially secured by guarantees".
Secured by mortgage
Migros Bank, for its part, is involved in a syndicated loan from several Swiss banks to the tune of CHF 97 million. The loan was granted to a real estate company in which several investors are involved, according to a separate communiqué from Migros' banking subsidiary. However, the name of the borrower is not explicitly mentioned in this press release.
The mortgage is "secured by a first-ranking mortgage", emphasizes Migros Bank. It is a department store property in a "prime location in Zurich city center". The building is rented and all interest and amortizations have been "reliably paid".
Reactions to media reports
The Migros Group companies made the publications in response to media reports in recent days in which various creditors of the Signa Group were named. According to the information, Migros Bank has now received a waiver of banking secrecy for this matter.
In the past few days, Obwaldner Kantonalbank (OKB) and Walliser Kantonalbank (WKB) had already confirmed their commitment to an investor group in the real estate sector that had run into difficulties. Both OKB and WKB put their exposure to the mortgage-backed syndicated loan at CHF 24.3 million.
Outstandings already known
It has been known for some time that Bank Julius Baer has high outstanding debts to the Signa Group. The private bank indirectly confirmed the loans at the end of November, with the sum amounting to CHF 606 million according to the information provided at the time.
Last week, the Aargauische Kantonalbank (AKB) also disclosed loans of CHF 73 million to the Signa Group, but these were mortgage-backed property financing.
Signa holding companies
Austrian investor René Benko's Signa real estate group has run into massive difficulties as a result of rising interest rates. In recent weeks, both the Signa holding company and numerous companies in the extremely complex group have filed for insolvency.
The deadline for filing claims against Signa Holding expired on Monday (January 15), a spokeswoman for the insolvency administrator of Signa Holding told AWP. The applications are now being examined. A so-called examination hearing is scheduled for January 29. However, the proceedings are not public, which is why the insolvency administrator is not commenting on individual claims.
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