In Vienna and Tyrol

Insolvent Signa now selling off luxury properties

The "Golden Quarter" in Vienna. The luxury shopping mile in Vienna's old town offers exclusive flagship stores from Louis Vuitton, Emporio Armani, Miu Miu and Roberto Cavalli, among others.

(Bild: APA/HERBERT NEUBAUER)

Signa Prime Selection, part of René Benko's insolvent Signa Group, is starting to sell off luxury assets in Vienna and Innsbruck. The properties for sale include the Park Hyatt, the Goldenes Quartier and the Constitutional Court building in Vienna as well as the Tyrol department store in Innsbruck.

The stake in Signa Prime Assets GmbH will now be sold as part of the self-administered restructuring process, insolvency administrator Norbert Abel announced on Tuesday evening.

Sale to finance restructuring plan
"The structured sale of Signa Prime Assets GmbH starts today and is an essential part of the reorganization concept of Signa Prime Selection", said Abel in a press release.

The Park Hyatt Hotel in Vienna

(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

"The sale is intended to realize part of the financial resources required to fulfill the targeted restructuring plan in the interests of the creditors," said the restructuring administrator.

Mahü construction site still at a standstill
The construction of the "Lamarr" shopping center planned for Mariahilfer Strasse is currently at a complete standstill. It is currently unclear what will happen with this further Signa property in Vienna.

The Benko conglomerate has recently experienced several insolvencies, some of which were worth billions. Restructuring attempts are underway. Meanwhile, the insolvency decision on company founder Benko himself was reportedly delayed until March on Tuesday.

Signa Prime Selection owns numerous well-known properties in city center locations, not only in Austria. In Berlin, for example, this includes the luxury department store KaDeWe and the Hotel Bauer in Venice.

Tyrol is looking for a solution
The sale of Kaufhaus Tyrol in Innsbruck's prime location is also likely to be a topic in the upcoming election campaign for the municipal elections on April 14. The mayoral candidate of the civic alliance list "das Neue Innsbruck", ÖVP State Secretary Florian Tursky, called for a "round table" and a "Tyrolean solution" on Tuesday: "All those responsible must be brought together immediately to examine various options and find the best alternative for the people of the provincial capital." Kaufhaus Tyrol must "not become a pawn in the hands of international investment funds", explained Tursky in a press release.