Signa Prime Creditors Demand 11.7 Billion Euros

Abel: Company should be wound up by mid/end 2026 - Real estate sales are progressing, […] Signa bankruptcy - Creditors want 11.7 billion euros from Signa Prime. Of the unconditional claims amounting to 6.7 billion euros, 3.8 billion euros have been recognized and 2.9 billion disputed, according to the information provided - 505.6 million euros are still unexamined. Further claims amounting to around 4.5 billion euros have been conditionally registered, of which 1.1 billion euros have been recognized and nearly 3.4 billion euros disputed. All claims have been examined here according to the insolvency administrator Abel Rechtsanwälte.

Some Real Estate Jewels of Signa Prime Are Still for Sale

Some structured real estate liquidations have already been successfully implemented - others are ongoing, as the report available to the APA shows. Since the last report, the insolvency administrator has advanced several national and international transactions in parallel as part of the continued operation of Signa Prime Selection and has been able to successfully implement structured liquidations in multi-phase bidding processes. For example, this year the 33-story Berlin skyscraper Upper West, which housed the German headquarters of the company founder Benko before the bankruptcy, was sold to the German industrial family Schoeller. "The Schoeller Group bid 425 million euros for the property and emerged as the highest bidder, which is why exclusivity was granted and the transaction was signed in February 2025," according to the current report to the creditors. "The closing is expected soon."

Already in August 2024, another Signa gem in Berlin, the luxury department store KaDeWe, was sold to the Thai Central Group. "The planned overall transaction for 100 percent of the shares with a transaction volume of around 1 billion euros via a share deal has been implemented in the meantime," according to the insolvency administrator's report. A cash inflow of around 24.4 million euros was achieved for the benefit of the insolvency estate by November 2024. Another inflow is to be distributed after the liquidation of the KaDeWe holding structure is completed.

Further Signa Properties Are Close to Sale

Some sales processes are ongoing. In Austria, for example, the Vienna city center properties Hotel "Park Hyatt" Am Hof and Tuchlauben as well as the Kaufhaus Tyrol in Innsbruck are still available. The shopping mile in downtown Innsbruck also housed Benko's office. An end is in sight for their liquidation - the deal should be completed this month: "A short-term signing or closing by the end of the 2nd quarter of 2025 is expected," according to the insolvency administrator's report to the creditors. The sales process for the "Park Hyatt" was started in March 2025. "The goal is to best realize the property in a structured bidding process by the end of the 3rd quarter," according to the plan.

The structured liquidation of the Postsparkasse, planned by the Austrian architect Otto Wagner, is reportedly "complicated by the complexity of the legal and economic structure." The property is leased to the Federal Real Estate Company (BIG) for more than 95 remaining years at an indexed annual rent, "this object-side financed in connection with a long-term registered bond of R+V Lebensversicherung AG." Negotiations are being conducted with the latter regarding the acquisition of the stake - there is fundamentally an interest in the purchase. The deal could also be finalized soon: "From the perspective of the insolvency administrator, the negotiations are expected to be concluded in the next four to eight weeks."

Real Estate Sales Should Generate Money

The expected quotas for creditors are still significantly dependent on the realization of the solvent real estate portfolio of SPS, as well as the realization activities, realization successes, and procedural costs by the insolvency administrators or estate administrators in Switzerland, Luxembourg, and especially Germany, as well as the cooperation of the respective senior lenders and other relevant stakeholders, according to the insolvency administrator. A mass loan of around 50 million euros has already been fully repaid.

At the request of a shareholder, the general meeting decided to conduct a special audit of the management's actions regarding the company's business relationships with the German Schoeller Group and the INGBE Private Foundation (named after Ingeborg Benko, the mother of the company's founder, ed.) in the period from January 1, 2022, to December 29, 2023, as well as the capital procurement within the framework of further business relationships and the sale of assets in the same period.

Signa Prime Creditors Must Expect Less Money

"Due to the tax implications resulting from the dissolution of the tax group within the SPS group, a significant reduction in the satisfaction prospects of the insolvency creditors is to be expected," admits the law firm Abel, which is responsible for the insolvency administration.

The previous net inflow into the insolvency estate was quantified by the insolvency administrator at 26.8 million euros, with the total proceeds from out-of-court payments in contestation claims at 62.5 million euros. The examination of the contestation claims has been completed. According to the information, an out-of-court settlement was reached for numerous claims. In total, 27 out-of-court repayments were achieved.

A further portion of claims amounting to 199.6 million euros has been legally asserted through 28 lawsuits at the Commercial Court of Vienna. Two proceedings with a minor dispute value were positively concluded in favor of the estate through full repayment or settlement. The processing of liability claims is progressing. Currently - in the second and third quarters of 2025 - further liability letters are being sent.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.