Austria

Creditors of the two main property units in Rene Benko’s Signa conglomerate backed plans to sell off assets as part of a restructuring that’s expected to recoup about 30% of their money, Bloomberg News reported. Lenders, which include banks, insurers and sovereign wealth funds, backed the proposals for Signa Prime Selection, the flagship luxury unit, and its smaller sister Signa Development Selection at meetings in Vienna on Monday. Signa Prime owns famous properties such as the Selfridges department store in London and the KaDeWe in Berlin.

Signa Prime and the holding company of logistics billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne are in talks about handing the insolvent property firm a lifeline as creditors meet to discuss its restructuring plan, Bloomberg News reported. Kuehne Holding, a Signa Prime shareholder, and some banks are considering an emergency loan for more than €100 million ($109 million). It would provide liquidity to cover bills and continue construction on developments.

Saudi Arabia and Gucci-owner Kering are said to be circling Selfridges as the insolvency of the department store’s co-owner triggers a battle for the business, the Telegraph reported. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and luxury goods giant Kering, which is owned by French billionaire Francois Pinault, are both thought to be interested in a stake in Selfridges, according to City sources. Interest has been triggered by the collapse of Signa, the Austrian company run by businessman Rene Benko that owns half of Selfridges’ property company.

The Signa luxury unit that co-owns the Selfridges department store in London plans to offer creditors a 30% repayment on their debt under the current restructuring proposal, Bloomberg News reported. According to a document from administrators seen by Bloomberg News, Signa Prime Selection AG will transfer assets to a trustee, who will oversee their sale with all proceeds flowing to creditors. While the proposal offers an initial 30% of their claims, the creditors may receive further payments if revenue from disposals allow.

A Signa Prime Selection AG creditor committee has rejected plans to sell a portfolio of Austrian property to the Schoeller Group, Bloomberg News reported. The initial decision casts doubt on a deal that insolvent Signa Prime had hoped would help address a bottleneck in its restructuring efforts. Negotiations between the firm and its lenders are ongoing. The luxury unit in the property and retail empire founded by Rene Benko was looking to sell several Austrian assets, including the Park Hyatt hotel and the Golden Quarter luxury shopping area.

Signa’s flagship property unit is close to an agreement to sell a portfolio of luxury Austrian assets to Germany’s Schoeller Group, Bloomberg News reported. A deal may help Signa Prime Selection AG resolve a deadlock in its broader restructuring related to a previous loan deal with Schoeller. It would also be the first major transaction with property held by Rene Benko’s troubled empire since its insolvency at the end of last year.

A €200 million ($218 million) loan to Signa’s flagship property unit has become a roadblock in attempts to sell off its assets and fund a restructuring, according to insolvency administrators, Bloomberg News reported. The loan from the Schoeller Group, controlled by one of Germany’s industrialist families, is one of the last cash injections Signa Prime Selection managed to secure in July 2023, before its insolvency in December.

Rene Benko, the founder of the ailing Signa conglomerate, filed for personal insolvency at an Austrian court that was in the process of reviewing his personal finances, Bloomberg News reported. Benko made the filing voluntarily, Norbert Wess, a lawyer for the businessman told Bloomberg by email, confirming earlier media reports by the Kronen Zeitung newspaper. The decision deepens the private fallout for the tycoon from the financial meltdown at his property and retail empire, large parts of which sought creditor protection last year.

Rene Benko’s ailing property group Signa is close to selling a building in downtown Munich to German construction tycoon Alfons Doblinger, in what would be the first major asset sale since its main units filed for insolvency in December, Bloomberg News reported. Signa Prime and its insolvency administrator are in direct talks with the 80 year-old entrepreneur over the sale of Rosenstrasse 8 in Munich’s main shopping area. The building has been marketed for about €100 million ($109 million).

Alternative investment managers including Arini, Eicos and Squarepoint have tens of millions of euros at risk with their investments in a unit of the insolvent real estate conglomerate Signa, Bloomberg News reported. Arini, a hedge fund founded by former Credit Suisse trader Hamza Lemssouguer, holds about half of the €300 million ($326 million) of bonds issued by Signa Development, making it one of the biggest creditors of the company, according to a company filing circulated on Monday and seen by Bloomberg News.