Real estate empire - Senate administration: Signa development is "serious"
The Berlin Senate Department for Economics is concerned about the latest developments at billionaire René Benko's real estate and retail empire. "The economic administration considers the situation to be serious and volatile," the authority said on Thursday in response to a request from the German Press Agency. It is in contact with the Berlin locations, the management of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof (GKK) and Signa, the trade association and other affected cities and federal states. The most important units of the Signa retail and real estate group around Benko are seeking insolvency proceedings. Signa Prime Selection AG applied for debtor-in-possession restructuring proceedings at the Vienna Commercial Court on Thursday, the company announced. Signa Prime owns commercial real estate in prime locations, including the Elbtower in Hamburg, the KaDeWe in Berlin and department store properties of the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof chain. Signa Prime builds and lets real estate. Other companies are responsible for the retail business of the department stores.
According to the Senate Administration, it is not yet possible to give a definitive answer as to the specific effects of the new insolvencies and the restructuring proceedings being pursued. In Berlin, the Signa Group only owns the properties in the two Galeria locations on Kurfürstendamm and Hermannplatz and, in the case of KaDeWe, together with a Thai investor. "The Senate attaches great importance to department stores in Berlin as anchor tenants in shopping streets and in their function in providing local amenities for people." The fact that, as a result of the last GKK insolvency proceedings in the spring of this year, all of Berlin's GKK department store locations have de facto remained open demonstrates "their fundamental attractiveness and future viability" for the Senate. This also applies to the internationally famous and economically strong KaDeWe. "The economic administration and the Senate are therefore fully committed to the goal of further developing the department store locations in Berlin and securing jobs. This is our top priority and we will also make this clear to any future investors and expect reliability and the assumption of responsibility at this point."
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- René Benko's real estate and retail empire, spearheaded by companies like Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof (GKK) and Signa, has significant operations in Germany and Austria.
- The construction of new real estate properties is part of Signa Prime's business, with prime locations like the Elbtower in Hamburg and KaDeWe in Berlin under its control.
- The German Press Agency reported that Signa Prime Selection AG, a subsidiary of Signa, is pursuing debtor-in-possession restructuring proceedings in Vienna.
- Vienna's Commercial Court is handling the insolvency proceedings for Signa Prime, which owns commercial real estate across multiple cities, including Berlin and Hamburg.
- The Senate Administration in Berlin stated that they're monitoring the situation closely, as Signa only owns a few key properties in the city, such as the Galeria locations on Kurfürstendamm and Hermannplatz.
- Despite the insolvency proceedings and restructuring efforts, the Senate Department in Berlin remains committed to securing the future of department stores as anchor tenants and vital community resources.
- Rene Benko's retail and real estate group, Signa, faces a challenging time with GALERIA Kaufhof seeking insolvency proceedings, following similar filings this year that only temporarily impacted their Berlin locations.
- The Cadewe trade fair in Düsseldorf, a significant event in the retail trade sector, will feature a mix of vendors from Signa, Karstadt, and other key players in the industry, despite the ongoing restructuring efforts.
Source: www.stern.de
