Insolvent Austrian property company Signa Prime Selection, part of the troubled Signa empire, has sold the luxury Hotel Bauer on Venice’s Grand Canal as part of a deal with German industrialist family business Schoeller Group, Signa Prime said on Friday, Reuters reported. Signa, the property group founded by Rene Benko, has become the biggest casualty so far in Europe’s real estate crisis, with creditors filing claims totalling billions of euros.

Austrian tycoon Rene Benko and one of his companies faces a probe by Liechtenstein prosecutors into suspected insolvency fraud and money laundering, Bloomberg News reported. “It can be confirmed that preliminary investigations have been initiated against a natural person and a legal entity as well as against unknown perpetrators,” prosecutor Gregor Hirn said in an emailed response to Bloomberg questions. The prosecutor confirmed the investigation, and pointed to earlier reports by the Swiss finance blog Inside Paradeplatz that named Benko and the allegations.

Thai retailer Central Group wants to take over some real estate assets from insolvent Austrian property company Signa, including KaDeWe in Germany and Selfridges in London, Reuters reported. Central Group is interested in Signa's entire luxury group, which also includes Alsterhaus in Hamburg, Oberpollinger in Munich, and Globus in Switzerland, according to a Business Insider report. The report said Central is already substantially invested in Signa's luxury holdings.

After backing a restructuring plan on Monday, bondholders of one of Signa Holding GmbH’s key property units are still demanding answers over a missing batch of funds worth around €675 million ($737 million.), Bloomberg News reported. The funds, equivalent to about 30% of Signa Development Selection AG’s total assets, were siphoned off in loans to other parts of Austrian tycoon Rene Benko’s business empire, according to a report by the administrator seen by Bloomberg News.

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.