After the shock surrounding the bankruptcy of René Benkos Signa, the question now arises as to what will happen to the many employees. Only a few days before Christmas will it become clear how realistic the financial plan presented is, says curator Christof Stapf, who expresses his expectations.
Instead of a peaceful Christmas period, the thousands of employees will likely be more concerned. In self-management, the heavily indebted company is still trying to turn things around and salvage what can still be salvaged.
Deadline five days before Christmas
However, lawyer Stapf will only be able to judge in a few weeks whether the plan to restructure the company, which has a debt of 5 billion euros, will hold. Only during the reporting meeting on December 19 “will it be assessed how realistic the presented financial plan is and whether a restructuring plan can be realized,” Stapf said in a statement on Thursday.
On Wednesday evening, Stapf was appointed curator of the umbrella company of the Signa network of the Tyrolean real estate investor René Benko.
Race against the clock
Signa is nothing less than the largest bankruptcy in Austrian economic history. Creditor protectors see the company facing a ‘torturous ride’, as Creditreform director Gerhard Weinhofer put it. There is great time pressure for evaluating investments. The question also arises whether the quota can actually be met.
With a commitment of 5 billion euros, creditors should receive around 1.5 billion euros within two years. However, the liquidation value – the value that would be redeemed in a forced sale – currently amounts to only 314 million euros.
“Different from usual renovation procedures”
“We immediately started assessing the economic situation of the company,” explains Stapf, who, together with his law firm Michael Neuhauser, is overseeing the restructuring process under self-management.
Due to its size and complexity, Signa Holding’s insolvency proceeded differently from usual restructuring procedures. “The detailed investigation will take the entire time until the first reporting meeting,” said Stapf, who would not comment further on the procedure until then.
Creditors won’t arrive until January
This is not the first major bankruptcy procedure for Stapf; he was a curator at Yline, at the Viennese Ringstrasse hotel “Le Meridien” and at the fashion chains mister*lady and Pimkie. He also handled the bankruptcy of gambling entrepreneur Peter Zanoni’s Montesino poker casino.
At Signa, the first reporting meeting and the first creditors meeting are scheduled for December 19. The audit meeting is scheduled for January 29 and the renovation plan meeting is scheduled for February 12. The final registration date for creditors to whom Signa Holding owes money is January 15, 2024.
High rise, deep fall
The real estate empire built up by Benko has grown rapidly in the zero interest phase of recent years and has mainly taken over commercial real estate. Signa management admitted on Wednesday that investments in this area had not yielded the expected success. The group includes numerous commercial properties in Germany and Austria, as well as the German department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, which has already gone through two insolvency proceedings.
Signa is currently building the 245 meter high Elbtower in Hamburg. The project is currently at a standstill because Signa can no longer pay the monthly construction costs of reportedly 25 million euros. It is unclear what will happen next in Vienna with the large Lamarr construction site on the former Leiner site on Mariahilfer Straße. The luxury department store is expected to open in 2025, but so far only the reinforced concrete skeleton remains standing.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
