The foundation around Signa company founder René Benko applied for bankruptcy proceedings on its own initiative at the Innsbruck regional court on Maundy Thursday, which insolvency judge Hannes Seiser has already opened, as the credit protection associations KSV1870, AKV and Creditreform confirmed later in the followingnoon. The foundation, founded in 2001 by Ingeborg and René Benko, is over-indebted to the tune of 1.12 billion euros.
The legal entity formerly known as the “René Benko Privatstiftung” – since 2013: Family Benko Privatstiftung – estimates its assets at 21.54 million euros according to the Alpine Creditors Association. The indirect and direct participation in Signa Holding is valued at zero. The extent to which the assets – they are said to consist almost entirely of “intercompany” claims – are actually valuable will become apparent in the course of the bankruptcy proceedings, according to the creditor protectors. According to KSV1870, the term “Intercompany” “probably refers to companies in the Signa sphere”.
Total claims of 854.19 million euros
According to the documents submitted, the assets are offset by total claims of EUR 854.19 million from 25 creditors as well as additional subordinated and intercompany claims amounting to EUR 284.63 million. A total of just under 1.14 billion euros.
According to KSV1870, almost 700 million euros, i.e. a large part of the approximately 854 million, relate to “liabilities from option contracts in the event of insolvency”. The foundation’s board explains that this area will probably be significantly smaller than the nominal value, according to the creditor protectors. Almost 50 million euros were attributable to loan debts and just over 20 million euros to intercompany liabilities.
However, the liabilities listed do not yet take into account the fact that the private foundation is a co-defendant in two arbitration proceedings, which, according to the insolvency application, involve a value in dispute of around 1 billion euros.
No employees affected
According to the debtor’s own information, no employees are affected by the insolvency of the private foundation. A restructuring option depends on the value of the investment in Signa Holding and the collectability of existing assets.
The registration deadline for claims ends on May 8, 2024. The first meeting to examine the registered claims will then take place on May 22. Until then, the insolvency administrator will determine which claims asserted by the creditors actually exist. “At this point, the insolvency administrator will already have an overview of the debtor’s assets,” says Schaller.
Creditors can now register their claims with the Innsbruck Regional Court via the credit protection associations. The court appointed lawyer Herbert Matzunski as insolvency administrator. He has already handled several major proceedings in the past, such as the FC Tirol bankruptcy proceedings at the Innsbruck Regional Court, and is considered experienced.
In addition to company founders, private foundations are now also affected
According to Schaller, the effects of the Signa Group’s economic difficulties have now affected not only the company’s founder René Benko, who is also insolvent as a sole proprietor, but also the Benko family private foundation. In the past, there had been a lot of speculation regarding the extent to which Mr. René Benko’s assets might have moved towards the Benko family private foundation, the insolvency expert added.
So far, the insolvency administrator of Benko as a sole proprietor, lawyer Andreas Grabenweger, and thus the affected creditors have been denied insight into the financial situation of the Benko family private foundation. “By now declaring bankruptcy via the Benko Family Private Foundation, the creditors expect that additional information can be generated,” said Schaller.
Insolvency judge Seiser is responsible for both the insolvency proceedings of the private foundation and the bankruptcy proceedings of Benko as a sole proprietor. For the time being, there is still a high level of lack of transparency when it comes to the crumbling real estate empire. “There are several foundations, at home and abroad,” Schaller told APA. “Now you can at least take a look at the family private foundation.” It is also currently unclear who the beneficiaries of the now insolvent family foundation are. These are not listed in the commercial register (“WirtschaftsCompass”).
The board submitted the application on Thursday
Only the foundation board members are noted there – Markus Mitterrutzner, Marcus Mühlberger and TPA tax expert Karin Fuhrmann. Mitterrutzner worked in the press department of Signa Holding and, much earlier, was the personal advisor to the former Vice Chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer (FPÖ), now Riess-Hahn, who was on the advisory board of the insolvent Signa Holding and on the supervisory board of the also insolvent subsidiaries Signa Development Selection and Signa Prime Selection had been appointed. Mühlberger was one of the managing directors of the insolvent Signa Holding. The board of directors of the private foundation submitted the application for insolvency proceedings on Thursday.
According to the insolvency application, the foundation’s assets essentially include various shares in Signa companies. However, the value of these investments is questionable in view of the insolvency cases. Specifically, according to AKV information, the private foundation holds 10.1 percent in Signa Holding GmbH, 25 percent in Signa RFR International Projekt Beteiligung GmbH, almost 32.4 percent in Supraholding GmbH and 100 percent in each of the Benko family 2017 Two GmbH, the Benko family 2018 Fünf GmbH and ARP Seventeen GmbH are involved. Furthermore, the foundation is a limited partner in Entra drei GmbH&Co KG and Supraholding GmbH & CO KG.
“It is important to find out in the near future what assets are actually involved in the insolvency of the Benko Family Private Foundation,” says Schaller. He assumes that there were donations from Signa Holding to the family private foundation, which have dried up since the restructuring process was opened in November 2023. “The economic difficulties are also likely to result from the fact that there have been no more inflows from the investment since the bankruptcy was declared and that there are no longer any cash flows from Signa.”
This post was updated at 6:03 p.m.
