2023-11-09 09:54:45
Even the day after Signa mastermind Rene Benko was removed from power by his billionaire investors, questions about the ailing real estate and trading group remain unanswered. Inquiries were referred by those responsible in the district, but there were no answers. The fact is, renovator Arndt Geiwitz exercises Benko’s previous voting rights – what kind of legal construct is behind this is unclear.
The Signa Group, with total assets of 27 billion euros, remains opaque. The newspaper “Presse” (Thursday) raises the question of whether Benko, despite having had no actual operational function in his life’s work for years, might not have been a “de facto managing director” who could face liability issues in the worst case scenario. In any case, observers have no doubt that Benko was in charge until the handover to Geiwitz. Benko reportedly often called himself “Chairman”. The 46-year-old indirectly holds the majority of the shares in his “baby” through his family foundation.
Now Geiwitz must prevent the liquidity bottleneck from expanding. Recently there was a construction stop on one of the most prestigious projects – the Hamburg Elbtower. The media write that the liabilities are in the billions. In total, up to 15 billion euros are being written, for example by the “Kronen Zeitung” in which Benko – atypical for Signa’s core business – also holds shares in the “Kurier”. The short-term debts are said to amount to 2 billion euros – of which 1.3 billion euros are to be serviced this year.
The fact that there has long been a term for this in the judiciary was discussed by lawyer Alfred Nemetschke in a LinkedIn post, according to the “Presse”. A “de facto managing director” refers to a person who is not formally appointed managing director, but who pulls the strings in the company. And therefore also bears corresponding responsibility. With full liability risk.
“A de facto managing director is someone who – without being formally appointed – has significant influence on the management, which means it does not matter whether they are an employee, partner, relative or outsider,” is a legal sentence from the Supreme Court (OGH). , RS0119794), emerges from the newspaper report. Anyone who takes on this role also has the duties of a company boss. If this involves legal acts that are reserved for appointed managers, he must influence them accordingly. According to jurisprudence, whether someone takes on this role must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Other media reports, citing insiders, revealed little new information. While in better times investors were happy to boast about their investments in Signa and Benko’s talent, there is now silence in the forest. Benko investor Hans Peter Haselsteiner currently only let it be known that Geiwitz’s office is now informing. This referred to Signa, which has not responded to media inquiries for weeks and only sent out a one-page press release yesterday.
According to the newspaper “Der Standard”, citing insiders, Geiwitz is said to have received neither Benko’s voting rights nor his shares. A complex legal solution ensures that Geiwitz represents Benko’s voting rights, even without a transfer. There should be no time limit. After all, it is also unclear how long it will take for Benko’s baby to recover and under what circumstances this is possible.
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