Signa insolvency – Globus parent also applies for debt restructuring moratorium
Published: Wednesday, Nov 29th 2023, 21:10
Retour au fil d'actualité
The holding company of Austrian investor René Benko's Signa network of companies is insolvent. The Globus parent company has also applied to the competent court for a debt restructuring moratorium.
The liabilities of Signa Holding GmbH, for which insolvency proceedings were opened in Vienna on Wednesday, amount to 5 billion euros. On the credit side, there are only 2.77 billion euros.
This makes it the largest bankruptcy in Austria's economic history to date - ahead of Alpine Bau (EUR 3.2 billion) and Konsum (EUR 1.9 billion). The Signa Group has grown strongly in recent years. Spectacular projects such as the Elbtower in Hamburg caused quite a stir. In Switzerland, Benko holds half of the Globus department store group.
As the Signa Group, founded by billionaire Benko, is not structured as a hierarchical group but as a complicated network of companies, the many sub-companies must decide for themselves whether they are still solvent or will also file for insolvency. The future of Signa Prime and Signa Development is also unclear.
Globus parent company seeks protection from creditors
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. 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.
Important properties not in the holding company
The most important Signa properties do not belong to the holding company, but to Signa Prime Selection AG. According to official company figures, it posted a loss of around one billion euros in the previous year after the value of the investment properties was devalued by roughly the same amount.
A more than 200 million euro bond issued by this company will mature on Thursday. Whether this important unit of the Signa Group and the real estate developer Signa Prime Development AG will also become insolvent remained unclear at first.
Rise in interest rates hit the Group hard
Rising interest rates and construction costs as well as falling real estate valuations and declines in the retail business triggered Signa's insolvency. The rise in interest rates hit Benko's group particularly hard, as he had largely financed the real estate with loans.
The aim of the insolvency proceedings for the holding company is now an "orderly continuation of business operations and restructuring". The company is offering creditors a 30% restructuring plan quota payable within two years. According to the insolvency application, the holding company has assets with a book value of around 2.77 billion euros.
According to AKV, Creditreform and KSV, the so-called asset liquidation value is only around 314 million euros. The insolvency affects 42 employees and 273 creditors.
Christof Stapf was appointed liquidator. Michael Neuhauser is his deputy. The first creditors' meeting and report meeting was scheduled for December 19.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic