As already announced in a “ZiB 2” interview, major Signa investor Hans Peter Haselsteiner has contributed 25 million euros to the bankrupt Signa Development Selection AG. This is a massive loan provided by a subsidiary of the Haselsteiner Family Private Foundation. For the curator “an important step towards further stabilization of the project companies”
A bankruptcy loan has priority over claims that were closed before the bankruptcy was declared. The massive loan was approved today by the supervisory board of Signa Development Selection AG, restructuring manager Andrea Fruhstorfer said on Friday.
Benko has not yet provided any new capital
According to the commercial register (“WirtschaftsCompass”), the Haselsteiner Family Private Foundation owns 9.2 percent of the real estate company. The creditors’ committee, represented by the creditor protection associations AKV, KSV and ÖVC and the Finanzprokuratur, has positively assessed the liquidation loan. Hans Peter Haselsteiner, co-owner of Signa Development, had already indicated on ORF’s “ZIB2” on Wednesday that he would make a maximum of 25 million euros available to the project development company. Signa founder Benko and other shareholders of Signa Development have not yet provided any new capital.
“The massive loan of 25 million euros was an important step towards further stabilizing the project companies to prevent emergency sales with significant loss of value,” said the curator of Signa Development. This means that outstanding payments can be made “at the level of the project companies and that the continuity of business operations can be guaranteed”.
Haselsteiner: “Responsibility as an important shareholder”
In addition to Signa Development, the family foundation of Strabag founder Haselsteiner also has a 15 percent interest in the bankrupt Signa Holding. “I see myself as having a responsibility as a major shareholder to minimize damage to the company and creditors,” Haselsteiner said, according to the broadcast on Signa Development. “The massive loan is intended to enable an orderly restructuring by the restructuring administrator and management, to buy more time for better sales and therefore a higher repayment rate from creditors.”
A report in the ‘Financial Times/FT’ caused a stir on Thursday, according to which Signa Development transferred more than 300 million euros last year to two companies close to Signa founder Rene Benko. Accordingly, Signa Development lent 125 million euros to Laura Finance Holding GmbH and another 190 million euros to Laura Holding GmbH, the “FT” writes. At the end of 2023, Signa Development applied for a restructuring procedure under its own management. The FT report does not say exactly when the money flowed.
Millions postponed ‘for real estate projects’
Signa Development’s restructuring manager has now commented on the “FT” report for the first time. “The accusation that payments were made by Signa Development Selection AG to Rene Benko or legal entities attributable to him immediately before the declaration of bankruptcy is incorrect,” Fruhstorfer said. It is true that there are claims against affiliated companies of the Signa Group. “According to the current investigation, the reported EUR 300 million was used for Signa’s real estate projects. Naturally, the claims are investigated and managed by the curator.” A detailed description of the settlement relationships is provided as part of the reporting to the bankruptcy court and creditors’ committee.
The domestic credit protectors are interested in the transactions. “Legal transactions that took place shortly before the bankruptcy and that limited the insolvency measures can be reversed,” Gerhard Weinhofer of the creditor protection organization Creditreform told the “Kurier” (Friday edition). “As a rule, such a transaction can be challenged retroactively for up to one year.” These payments will be scrutinized very closely, Weinhofer told the “Oberösterreichische Nachrichten” (Friday).
At the beginning of November 2023, rating agency Fitch downgraded Signa Development’s rating to ‘high risk’. Fitch highlighted the ‘risk’ that Signa Development would channel its own financing to other parts of the Signa Group. This is evident from the increase in ‘other financial claims’, which increased by 215 million euros in the first half of 2023. In the half-year report, these interest-bearing “loans to indirect shareholders”.
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.
