Insolvency vortex

Billion missing again! Next Signa company goes bankrupt

The headquarters of the Signa conglomerate in Vienna (archive photo)(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

The next sub-company of Benko's Signa construct is bankrupt: Signa Retail GmbH has over one billion euros in liabilities. It is surprising that the company is nevertheless seeking restructuring proceedings.

Restructuring proceedings without self-administration have been opened for the company's assets on the basis of an application for self-administration. This was announced by the credit agency Creditreform and the credit protection associations AKV and KSV1870 on Tuesday.

"Question of how they want to do this"
Debts of 1.13 billion euros to 26 creditors are offset by assets of just 1.51 million euros. Nevertheless, the company is aiming for a restructuring procedure, for which it is offering a 20 percent quota within two years. "I'm also asking myself how they intend to do this," says AKV credit protector Cornelia Wesenauer.

Involved in Galeria and KaDeWe
Signa Holding, which has been insolvent since November 2023, directly and indirectly holds a good 95% of Signa Retail. Due to the bankruptcy of the parent company, liability commitments made at Signa Retail level became effective and could no longer be serviced due to a lack of financing from the shareholders, AKV announced. Signa Retail currently holds indirect interests in various groups of companies in the retail sector. These include Galeria Kaufhof Karstadt, the KaDeWe Group, GLOBUS and the Selfridges Group.

Signa Retail has only one employee and hardly any running costs, which is why the continuation of the company is economically viable, according to the creditors.

Austria's largest insolvency
Since the insolvency of Signa Holding in December 2023, numerous subsidiaries have also become insolvent. In total, with over 10 billion euros in liabilities, it is by far the largest insolvency in Austria's economic history. The holding company's liabilities amount to EUR 5 billion. It was followed by Signa Prime (4.5 billion), Signa Development (1.3 billion), the German department store subsidiary Galeria, the KaDeWe Group, the luxury department store Lamarr under construction in Vienna and finally Signa founder René Benko as an individual entrepreneur, against whom two billion euros in claims were made. In total, there were a dozen insolvencies in Austria and over 100 in Germany in the network of companies, which is said to include over 1000 companies.