Two weeks before Signa Prime Selection AG went bankrupt, a subsidiary sold the well-known Meinl house to Graben to the Vienna Medical Association for a remarkable 80 million euros. The purchase agreement was signed by a top manager from the Benko empire. His wife acted as an intermediary.
On December 14, 2023, a significant real estate transaction will take place at a notary in the center of Vienna. Signa Prime Selection AG, which was already at high risk of bankruptcy at the time, sold the well-known Meinl house on Wiener Graben to the Vienna Medical Association. Purchase price: 80 million euros. Fourteen days later, Signa Prime goes bankrupt.
This transaction between the Benko Empire’s ailing Signa Prime and the renowned Vienna Doctors’ Welfare Fund is notable for several reasons:
On the one hand, the purchase price is significantly higher than the value that Signa Prime had on its books at the end of December 2020: the Am Graben 19 property was only valued at just over 50 million euros at the time.
On the other hand, there was an interesting middleman in this 80 million deal. Eva Jost, who runs a sole proprietorship as a real estate agent at Walfischgasse 5 in Vienna.
Director and first authorized representative
According to research by Krone, Eva Jost is the wife of Bernhard Jost, one of the top managers in the financial juggler’s realm. Bernhard Jost not only holds dozens of management positions in René Benko’s opaque business network, he has also been an authorized representative at the important Signa Prime Selection AG since 2015. And: Bernhard Jost has been heading “Graben 19 Immobilien GmbH” since 2016, which is part of the Signa Prime universe. As director of this company, he and Signa CFO and Prime board member Manuel Pirolt signed the purchase agreement with representatives of the Vienna Medical Association on December 14, 2023. And his wife made money as a real estate agent.
Why does a company specialized in luxury real estate like Signa Prime Selection AG need outside help in the emergency sale of one of the most famous houses in the city center? Why did the wife of a top executive at the Signa Group have to be commissioned to do this?
“Normal market height”
Under the law, an agent could collect up to three percent of the purchase price in an 80 million deal. It would be 2.4 million euros. Eva Jost left all questions about it unanswered for weeks and after just a few seconds she canceled the telephone call. Signa Group also did not respond to a request for comment on the commission amount and the circumstances. The Vienna Medical Association announced that Ms Jost had a contractual agreement with the seller, i.e. the Signa Group: ‘The brokerage fees were agreed at a standard market level.’ However, this was ‘considerably below’ the legally permitted maximum amount of three percent.
According to research by ‘Krone’, the mediation costs would have amounted to approximately one million euros. The Signa Group and the Vienna Medical Association should each acquire half.
Curious: Because the city of Vienna is so often assumed to be just a village. According to the company register, real estate agent Eva Jost’s sole proprietorship is located in the same building where new Signa Prime board member Erhard Grossnigg, 77, and longtime Benko partner Hans Peter Haselsteiner, 80, also have offices. Of course on a different door number.
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.
