Signa Holding applies for amendment of the reorganization proceedings
Published: Thursday, Jan 25th 2024, 17:30
Updated At: Thursday, Jan 25th 2024, 17:30
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The holding company of the insolvent real estate and retail group Signa will no longer be run by the current management. As announced by the insolvency administrator of Signa Holding GmbH in Vienna on Thursday, the company has applied for self-administration of the insolvency proceedings.
The corresponding decision by the Commercial Court of Vienna was not long in coming: "Pursuant to Section 170 para. 1 no. 4 IO, the debtor's self-administration is withdrawn on its own application. The proceedings will be continued as restructuring proceedings without self-administration," the court announced.
Administrator Christof Stapf will take over the business, it was said. This will make it easier to coordinate the three insolvencies of the holding company and its important real estate units Signa Prime and Signa Development.
The move also has a concrete impact on creditors: in the worst-case scenario, 80 percent of their claims could remain unpaid in the event of insolvency without self-administration, compared to 70 percent with self-administration. The holding company's liabilities amount to almost 5.3 billion euros.
The restructuring plan meeting of Signa Holding has been postponed from February 12 to April 29 as part of the change of procedure. According to the press release, the company will be significantly streamlined by then, all non-essential assets will be sold and the holding company's shareholding structure will be stabilized.
After a period of strong growth, the Signa Group, founded by Austrian René Benko, has plunged into crisis in the face of rising interest rates, construction costs and energy prices. The group includes the Elbtower project in Hamburg and the department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. In Switzerland, the Group holds a 50 percent stake in the Globus department store group.
In Switzerland, the creditors of the Signa companies include the private bank Julius Baer, but several cantonal banks have also granted significant loans to the group companies. In addition, the former Globus owner Migros and Migros Bank have large sums outstanding with the Signa companies.
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