Bankruptcy proceedings have been opened for another Signa subsidiary

The bankruptcy of Tyrolean investor Rene Benko's Signa group led to another Signa subsidiary being declared bankrupt in the Innsbruck Regional Court on Wednesday. Upon self-application, procedures were opened via Signa Innovations Holding GmbH, headquartered in Innsbruck. According to credit protectors, liabilities amounted to 505 thousand euros, while assets amounted to 418 thousand euros. No renovation is planned.

The company is a 100% subsidiary of Signa Holding GmbH, which was founded in 2018. KSV1870 said: “The debtor acted as a holding company for startups under the umbrella of the Signa Group, which aimed to revolutionize the real estate, office and big data markets through software or… Services”. Innovation was sold in 2023 and Signa Innovations Holding was already supposed to be liquidated. However, this is no longer happening because Signa Holding GmbH has declared bankruptcy.

According to creditor protection association Creditreform, nine creditors, but no employees, were affected by the bankruptcy. The first meeting of creditors was scheduled for July 1. As in the bankruptcy proceedings against the Benko family's private foundation, Innsbruck lawyer Herbert Matsonski was appointed as administrator.

The process is likely to take several years

The majority of liabilities – specifically according to KSV1870 amounting to €293,000 – are intercompany liabilities. Hence these come from Signa Group companies. In terms of assets, a significant portion of it consists of receivables from subsidiaries. “It remains to be seen whether the insolvency administrator can actually collect this,” she said. It is not expected that the operation will be transferred to Vienna after the administration did not indicate that the economic center would be in the federal capital.
The Innsbruck Regional Court is increasingly interested in bankruptcies in the Cigna environment. The first audit meeting in the case of Benko Family Private Foundation was held last week. Of the €2.3 billion in creditor claims, only €49.4 million were recognised. According to Matsonski, the process will likely take several years. The Benkos consulting company and all of his private assets had previously been declared bankrupt. 30 creditors asserted claims worth approximately €2 billion, of which 47.3 million were recognised.