Owners in trouble: Globus gets support from Thailand in Signa vortex

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Rumors have been swirling around the Swiss luxury department store chain Globus ever since the problems at the Signa Group of investor René Benko (46) became known. Half of it belongs to Signa Group and the other half belongs to Thai Central Group.

Globus has not yet commented. Central Group made a commitment to the luxury department store chain today, Tuesday, which was accessed by news agency AWP.

“Regardless of the location of our joint venture partner, Central Group plans to support all luxury businesses in Europe, including Globus,” he said. “It will ensure that they receive the necessary support to continue their operations as usual.”

Various scenarios possible

Possible scenarios for the future of Globus were played out in the media last weekend and weekend. One of these will be the acquisition of Globus by Merkez Group. “According to reports”, Thais are keen on a complete takeover of Globus, wrote “Handelszeitung”. There is also a clue to Saudi Arabia.

CCC rating only

At the same time, there is another bad news for Benko. Rating agency Fitch downgraded the rating of Signa Development AG, one of Benko’s four real estate investment companies, to “high risk”.

Since the beginning of this week, only having a CCC credit score has been sufficient. This means that “unless developments are positive, failure is not expected.” Signa Development was previously given a B rating. This means that “failures are likely if the situation worsens.”

The rating agency cited the figures in the company’s interim report dated June 30, 2023 as the reason for the downgrade. In this report, Signa Development announced that it “also faces difficulties regarding its liquidity situation.”

Signa Development, which Fitch currently classifies as high risk with approximately 3 billion euros in assets, does not have the same project scope as Signa Prime Selection, which has approximately 20 billion euros. But the rating agency warns that “unpaid suppliers and bank financiers” could “mutually contaminate and corrupt” Signa companies. (SDA/rae)

Source :Blick