The company includes, among others, the Goldenes Quartier, the Hotel Park Hyatt in Vienna and the Tyrol department store. The creditors’ committee did not approve the sale.
Signa Prime’s creditors’ meeting did not approve the rumored sale of luxury properties to the German industrialist family Schoeller. A corresponding report from ORF “ZiB1” was confirmed by informed circles. It should depend on the sales price; according to APA information, further negotiations will take place soon. The assets include the Goldenes Quartier, the Hotel Park Hyatt in Vienna and the Tyrol department store in Innsbruck.
The German industrialists helped René Benko’s Signa Prime Selection out of its liquidity crisis last summer with a loan of 200 million euros and in return received liens on the financing company Signa Prime Capital Invest GmbH, which includes shares in valuable properties such as the planned Lamarr luxury department store in Vienna KaDeWe in Berlin and the Elbtower project in Hamburg.
Of the 37 interested parties for Signa Prime Asset GmbH, to which the properties belong, the Schoeller Group is said to have not only offered the best price, but also made the best structural offer. This means that the liens on Signa Prime Capital would be deducted, meaning that the exploitation of the valuable properties would no longer be blocked. When asked, Prime’s restructuring manager did not respond to the rumors. According to the ORF report, the creditors are likely to achieve an even better selling price.
Suspicion of money laundering
Meanwhile, the Munich public prosecutor’s office is investigating Signa company founder Rene Benko on suspicion of money laundering. According to a report by the German “Bild am Sonntag”, a corresponding procedure was initiated in November last year. The Munich authorities did not want to comment on the report to the newspaper. Benko’s lawyer said he was not familiar with the proceedings. According to “BamS”, it is about a construction project between Munich Central Station and Karlsplatz (Stachus).
According to the report, Benko’s companies are said to have collected almost 1 billion euros from banks and investors for the acquisition and development of the “Munich’s New Center” project. 120 million euros are said to come from Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), the newspaper writes, citing Signa files and land register extracts. The Benko companies are said to have provided inflated information about future rental income in order to obtain higher loans at better conditions. A large part of the money is said to have flowed abroad. (APA)
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