According to insiders, an agreement on the withdrawal of the Austrian investor has not yet been sealed at the ailing Signa Holding René Benkos. There are ongoing discussions about Signa’s future, several people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Benko was setting conditions for a withdrawal, it was said. There is also no agreement on a joint approach among the Signa investors. The conversations continued. There was no comment from Signa.
Signa investor Hans Peter Haselsteiner said last week that Benko was about to withdraw. The restructuring expert Arndt Geiwitz, who is already advising Signa, should take a leading role. “This week the shareholders asked René Benko to go one step further and appoint Mr. Geiwitz not only as a restructuring representative, but also as a kind of general representative,” said former Strabag boss Haselsteiner. In addition, Geiwitz should also be given all voting rights that Benko or his foundations have in Signa Holding. Haselsteiner has not yet responded to a request for comment from Reuters. He withdrew a press release that had been announced for Tuesday.
Like many real estate companies, Signa is under pressure because of the rapidly rising interest rates. The sports trading subsidiary Signa Sports United (SSU) recently had to file for bankruptcy. Signa had previously refused her a capital injection. In addition to numerous properties, Benko’s extensive Signa empire also includes the Galeria department store chain.
Loud Daily Mirror Signa stopped all construction projects in Berlin. The Galeria locations at Hermannplatz and in Wedding will also be affected by this.