The real estate management company Signa Holding declared bankruptcy today and announced that it is applying to the Commercial Court of Vienna in order to enter into a restructuring process under self-management.

Signa’s most famous properties in Vienna include the “Golden Square” and the Hyatt Hotel in the most expensive area of ​​the Austrian capital.

The Signa Group is still building the Elbtower in Hamburg, where work is now frozen, while in New York it shares ownership of the famous Chrysler Building.

“Despite significant efforts in recent weeks, it was not possible to secure sufficient liquidity for out-of-court restructuring”, the relevant announcement states. A few weeks ago the Austrian owner René Benko handed over the chairmanship of the Group’s Supervisory Board to the restructuring expert Ard Gaivicz.

Last Friday, Signa Real Estate Management Germany, a subsidiary in Germany, declared bankruptcyof Signa Prime Selection. It was preceded in October by the bankruptcy of Signa Sports United.

“In the real estate sector, external factors have recently had a negative impact on the development of businesses”, emphasizes the Group and explains that its objective is to restructure to return to profitability, with a percentage of up to 30% available to creditors.

For years, Signa was considered one of the fastest growing real estate and commercial groups in Europe, with assets worth around 15 billion euros.

It was founded in 2006 as a successor to Immofina. In addition to the real estate sector, the company also invested in retail, among others by acquiring the German department store chains Galeria Kaufhof and Kika/Leiner and Globus in Switzerland.

In addition, in 2018 Rene Benko indirectly acquired 24% of the Austrian newspapers “Krone” and “Kurier”.