Signa must now sell Chrysler Building and media holdings
Published: Tuesday, Dec 19th 2023, 18:50
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The insolvent holding company of the real estate and retail group Signa is parting with prestigious properties and investments. As the insolvency administrator Christof Stapf announced on Tuesday on the occasion of the first creditors' meeting at the Commercial Court of Vienna, talks are underway regarding the exit from investments.
These include the famous Chrysler Building in New York and the sale of media holdings. According to Stapf, the company's private jet is also being sold.
"The costs for the continued operation of Signa Holding GmbH are covered for the time being. This also with the support of Mr. René Benko personally," announced the credit protection association KSV1870 following the meeting, which lasted just under an hour. The insolvency court had approved the continuation of the company, the Creditreform creditor protection association confirmed. Several dozen creditor representatives were present today.
However, it is also certain that "further guarantees are necessary" to finance the complex process, explained Stapf. The exact liquidity requirement will be determined "this week or next week", but is likely to be higher than the grants already made and promised by Signa founder Benko of "a total of EUR 3 million to date". According to KSV1870, EUR 1 million has been paid so far to ensure continued operations.
Receivables in the billions
To date, 43 creditors have filed claims amounting to around EUR 1.13 billion - the deadline for filing claims ends on January 15, 2024. It remains to be seen whether the potential liabilities of EUR 5 billion set out in Signa Holding's own application will actually be filed by the creditors.
A liquidation plan has already been initiated for the accelerated sale of investments and assets. According to the restructuring administrator, non-essential existing contracts are being and have already been terminated - for example for the company headquarters property in Palais Harrach and Palais Ferstel in Vienna's city center. A redemption of the investments made in buildings and inventory is being examined.
The insolvent Signa holding company Signa Holding GmbH alone has 53 direct holdings in companies and indirect holdings in several hundred other companies, according to its own information. According to Stapf, the preliminary organizational chart of the group as of the end of September 2023 comprises a total of 46 pages in A3 format.
Due to the complexity of the Signa Group's network of companies, the processing of all relevant information is "extremely time-consuming and continues to be so", according to the AKV creditor protection association. For this reason, too, "no serious assessment can yet be made of the appropriateness or feasibility of the restructuring plan currently on offer".
Restructuring and reorganization underway
Meanwhile, the restructuring administrator is endeavouring to support the stabilization of the two currently non-insolvent holding subsidiaries Signa Development Selection AG and Signa Prime Selection AG. The restructuring and reorganization efforts are ongoing. This also applies to Signa Retail GmbH, in which the retail holdings are bundled. Its subsidiaries Signa Retail Selection AG and Signa European Invest Holding AG are in debt restructuring moratorium in Switzerland.
Signa Holding is offering its creditors a restructuring quota of 30 percent payable within two years - that would be around EUR 1.5 billion of the total of EUR 5 billion that the company has indicated as potential liabilities. The verification hearing will take place at the Commercial Court of Vienna on January 29, 2024.
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