Debts of 1.13 billion euros with 26 creditors are offset by assets of only 1.51 million euros. Nevertheless, the company is aiming for a restructuring process and is offering a 20 percent quota within two years. “I also ask myself the question of how they want to do it,” said AKV credit protector Cornelia Wesenauer.
The Vienna Commercial Court has appointed Signa Holding’s liquidator, Christof Stapf, as insolvency administrator and Leonhard Bauder as his deputy. The general audit meeting was scheduled for June 20, the restructuring plan and final accounting meeting for July 25, 2024.
Die Signa Holding, which has been insolvent since November 2023, directly and indirectly holds a good 95 percent of the shares Signa Retail. Due to the bankruptcy of the parent company, at the level of Signa The credit protectors announced that the liability commitments made to retail were no longer valid and might no longer be serviced due to a lack of financing from the shareholders. Currently it is holding Signa Retail indirect investments in various corporate groups in the retail sector. These include GKK, the KaDeWe Group, GLOBUS and the Selfridges Group.
Die Signa Retail only has one employee and hardly any running costs, so the continuation of the company is economically feasible, according to the credit protectors.
Largest bankruptcy in economic history
Since the bankruptcy of the Signa Holding in December 2023, numerous subsidiaries also became insolvent. In total, with over 10 billion euros in liabilities, it is by far the largest insolvency in Austria’s economic history. The holding company’s liabilities amount to 5 billion euros. These followed Signa Prime (4.5 billion), the Signa Development (1.3 billion), the German department store subsidiary Galeria, the KaDeWe Group, the Viennese luxury department store Lamarr, which is currently under construction, and finally Signa-Founder René Benko as a sole proprietor, once morest whom 2 billion euros in claims were made. In total, there were a dozen bankruptcies in Austria and over 100 in Germany in the company network, which is said to include over 1,000 companies.
