Signa investor sees hope for many creditors
Published: Thursday, Jan 25th 2024, 00:30
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Many creditors of the insolvent parts of the Signa Group could get off lightly, according to an important investor. "If the restructuring succeeds, (...) I believe that the creditors will have to accept very modest losses."
This is what Signa investor Hans Peter Haselsteiner said on Wednesday evening on the ORF news program "ZiB2", referring to construction companies and tradesmen. The main losers are investors and large institutional investors. He also often asks himself how this could have happened to him. Haselsteiner holds 15 percent of the insolvent Signa Holding and is therefore one of the largest shareholders.
At the moment, the aim is to sell the numerous valuable properties as well as possible. "We simply don't want bargain hunters and vultures to be left behind right now," said Haselsteiner. The aim is to achieve a proper liquidation process in order to optimize the proceeds and minimize the damage. It is clear: "It is always a loss that is minimized and not a rescue of the company in the sense of the word."
Benko lost a large part of his assets
The Austrian investor and Signa founder René Benko himself has lost a large part of his fortune. Even though Benko had officially left the management bodies of Signa years ago, in his view the 46-year-old bore full responsibility for the development. Benko was the de facto managing director, Haselsteiner continued. "He had the reins in his hands." When asked how the investor, who had disappeared from the public eye, was doing, Haselsteiner said: "I think he is desperate and he is of course struggling to maintain an attitude."
The most important parts of the Signa Group founded by Benko had filed for insolvency in recent weeks. The turnaround in interest rates in particular had hit the company, which operated with high levels of credit, and ultimately triggered a spectacular downward spiral. Benko's empire also included the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department store chain, which has since also gone bankrupt. In Switzerland, the Signa Group owns a 50 percent stake in the Globus department store group, while the other 50 percent is held by the Thai Central Group.
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