In Germany, three other Signa companies owned by Tyrolean real estate juggler Rene Benko had to file for bankruptcy.
According to court information on Wednesday, Signa Financial Services GmbH, based in Frankfurt, and Signa REM Germany GmbH and SCAx GmbH in Munich have submitted corresponding applications to the Charlottenburg district court. The court appointed lawyer Torsten Martini as the provisional insolvency administrator in all three cases. Signa Real Estate Management had previously filed for insolvency with the Berlin court. Here too, Martini is the provisional insolvency administrator. The umbrella company Signa Holding had applied for restructuring proceedings under self-administration in Vienna, and the court had appointed the lawyer Christof Stapf as insolvency administrator. Further bankruptcies are expected. The complex Signa Group is the biggest victim to date of the sudden crash on the real estate market. Benko’s extensive company network also includes the German department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. Insiders expect that further Signa companies will file for insolvency. Benko is no longer on the Forbes billionaire list. Recently, the renowned business magazine Forbes also reported on the massive asset losses in the wake of the Signa bankruptcy. Forbes no longer calls him a billionaire. According to the rating agency Moody’s, the insolvency of Signa Holding could even have a negative impact on the profitability and credit quality of some banks in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. According to insiders, the exposure in this country alone reaches 2.2 billion euros.
source site-12