A new postponement is looming for the cash-strapped Signa Group of Austrian billionaire René Benko: Subsidiary Signa Prime must repay a bond of 201.5 million euros on Thursday (today).
There is currently no refund information. Signa spokesman Robert Leingruber did not respond to a request from the Austrian news agency APA. A day earlier, Signa Holding had filed for bankruptcy. The real estate and commercial investment company owes its creditors approximately 5 billion euros.
The Signa Finance 2020 5.CS bond maturing on (today) November 30, 2023 was issued on July 30, 2020. According to the consolidated financial statements, the financial debts and derivatives of the previously insolvent Signa Prime Group amounted to 10.7 billion euros at the end of 2022 , of which 2.4 billion euros are short-term debts.
Signa Prime bundles properties in prime inner city locations in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Northern Italy and Great Britain. Signa Prime reported real estate assets (investment properties) of 14.2 billion euros in its 2022 annual accounts. The year before that was 15 billion euros.
Uncertainty about bankruptcy
For Gerhard Weinhofer, director of creditor protection organization Creditreform Austria, calling off the bond represents a financial burden for Signa Prime. Whether the company will also have to file for bankruptcy remains to be seen, he said in an interview with the APA. According to him, the group of companies is at the beginning of a “possible chain of bankruptcies” after the bankruptcy of the holding company.
Rising interest rates and construction costs, as well as declining real estate valuations and declines in trading activity, prompted the bankruptcy of Signa Holding. “Despite significant efforts in recent weeks, the necessary liquidity for an out-of-court restructuring could not be sufficiently secured,” Signa said.
According to an insider, Signa Prime is trying to “secure urgently needed liquidity” in talks with investors. But it remains unclear whether this will succeed, a person familiar with the process said a day earlier, according to the Reuters news agency. (saw/sda/awp/apa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
