Signa, one of the largest real estate holdings in Austria, said it would file for insolvency on Thursday in Vienna, after one of its subsidiaries took a similar step earlier in Germany.
The property giant, which is founded by Rene Benko, said in a statement that it could not secure enough liquidity for an out-of-court restructuring. This means that the holding is applying for restructuring proceedings with self-administration.
Signa Real Estate develops and manages a comprehensive portfolio of projects based in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and in Italy. The holding also owns the iconic Chrysler building in New York.
According to media reports, the holding has been dealing with financial issues that impacted the ongoing developments in several markets.
On its official website, Signa says it has holdings worth €27 billion and projects worth €25 billion in development.
In early November, Benko handed over the chairmanship of the supervisory board of the holding to Arndt Geiwitz, who will manage the reorganization process.
In a LinkedIn post, the company said The Benko Family Private Foundation remains the largest shareholder of Signa.
