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☆ Benko's Signa unit seeks $2.2 bln funding amid property crisis - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Peter Nicholls Acquire Licensing RightsNov 15 (Reuters) - Property tycoon Rene Benko-founded Signa Group's Prime unit has approached investors to seek up to 2 billion euros ($2.17 billion) in funding, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Signa Prime, which co-owns the Selfridges department store in London, requires 500 million euros to meet obligations this year alone and will need another 1.5 billion euros of cash in the first half of 2024, the report said. Some of the investors have turned down the request, while others are still in the early stages of assessing it, according to Bloomberg News. Thailand's largest department store owner, Central Group, on Tuesday took control of Selfridges department stores after the real estate company brought it in a deal worth $5 billion in 2021. The funding request comes as Signa faces a property crisis in Europe exacerbated by a sharp rise in rates and building costs.

Persons: Peter Nicholls, Rene Benko, Signa, Arndt Geiwitz, Angela Christy M, Devika Organizations: REUTERS, Bloomberg, Bloomberg News, Central, Thomson Locations: Oxford, London, Britain, Austria, Europe

☆ UniCredit, RBI among banks on hook for $2.4 bln in Signa loans -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

RBI, which the person said had sharply reduced its exposure to the Signa group in recent years, declined to comment on Thursday. The European Central Bank (ECB), which supervises the banks, declined to comment. Raiffeisen Landesbank Niederoesterreich-Wien, Raiffeisen Landesbank Oberoesterreich and Erste Group are also among the banks with exposures to Signa, the person said. The other two Austrian banks declined to comment. A spokesperson for Austria's central bank said it had no concerns about the country's financial stability, when asked about Signa's financial position.

Persons: UniCredit, Signa, Rene Benko, Fitch, Landesbank, Banks, Arndt Geiwitz, Francesco Canepa, Tom Sims, Elisa Martinuzzi, Alexander Smith Organizations: Signa Group, Chrysler, Raiffeisen Bank, Bank, European Central Bank, ECB, Reuters, Erste Group, Erste, Austria's National Bank, Market Authority, Thomson Locations: VIENNA, Banks, Austria, Bank Austria, Wien

☆ Signa founder Benko hands reins of property empire to Geiwitz
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A view of the sign of Signa Holding on their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, November 6, 2023. Benko, an Austrian entrepreneur and a key figure in Europe's property market for two decades, is known for high-profile purchases including New York's iconic Chrysler Building and Britain's Selfridges. Some current and former investors - themselves titans of industry - have in recent days publicly lashed out at Benko, raising questions about his future role at Signa. What is important now is to restore trust, and I want to play my part in that," Benko said in the statement. Geiwitz is best known for his role in the insolvency proceedings of Germany's Galeria Kaufhof-Karstadt department stores and drug store chain Schlecker.

Persons: Leonhard Foeger, Rene Benko, Arndt Geiwitz, Fitch, Benko, Signa, Geiwitz, Germany's Galeria, Alexandra Schwarz, Tom Sims, Matthias Williams, Kirsti Knolle, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Signa, REUTERS, Rights, Chrysler, titans, Germany's, European Central Bank, Thomson Locations: Vienna, Austria, FRANKFURT, Germany, Austrian, Benko

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