Science Tower GmbH has filed for bankruptcy

According to the owner, Hans Holwart, Science Tower GmbH, the operator of the stunning tower of the same name in the smart city of Graz (Waagner-Biro-Straße), filed for bankruptcy on Thursday. In a written statement, Holwart told the Klein Zeitung newspaper that the economic situation surrounding the high-tech tower, which opened in 2017, had recently become much worse. “As a result of the bankruptcy of SFL Technologies GmbH in 2019, due to disputes with the SIGNA Group, it is no longer possible for the Science Tower to continue operating as originally planned,” Holwart said in a statement.

Upon request, the Alpine Creditors Association (AKV) confirmed that bankruptcy proceedings had been opened at the Vienna Commercial Court on Friday. Why Vienna? According to Firmencompass, the company's headquarters was recently moved from Stallhofen to Vienna.

Since then, the shareholders (Hans Holwart 70%, Birgit Holwart 30%) “have tried everything to save the Science Tower project.” According to him, “In the past few years alone, more than two million euros of liquidity have been provided in addition to extensive services for the maintenance and improvement of the technologies used and the completion of the Science Tower.” But recently, “on the one hand, the financing bank asserted that Science Tower GmbH was liable for a loan from insolvent SFL Technologies GmbH, and on the other hand, the insolvency administrator of SFL Technologies GmbH filed a lawsuit against Science Tower GmbH for claims amounting to… “Millions.” Attempts to restructure the bank outside the court have failed, so an application for bankruptcy has now been filed. “No employee is affected by bankruptcy. Aside from the financing bank and the shareholders' sphere, hardly any creditors are affected.

What does this mean for renters?

But what will happen next for the businesses and organizations renting the twelve-storey building, a 60-metre-high visible “beacon” that helps shape the architecturally smart city? It is now the turn of the insolvency administrator to be appointed. Holwart: “For the tenants of the Science Tower, an attempt should be made in cooperation with the insolvency administrator to ensure a satisfactory resolution is reached in the sense of continuing to use the Science Tower.” Tenants include companies from Joanneum Research and Greentech Cluster. Viennese lawyer and insolvency law expert Günter Hodel was appointed insolvency administrator.

There is no continuation of the company planned

The 2023 balance sheet showed negative equity of €2,603 ​​million and liabilities of €5,028 million. Cornelia Wiesenauer from AKV Management to Kleine Zeitung: In the insolvency application, liabilities appear in the amount of €6.48 million, excluding liabilities that continue to arise from the insolvency of Sfl Technologies. Assets are said to be €3.6 million, with the tower itself listed – at book value – at €3.3 million, but also subject to a mortgage by the financing bank. According to Wesenauer, there are no plans to continue the company, it is now a matter of making the best possible use of it.

“According to company information, the debtor company will be continued temporarily as part of insolvency proceedings to ensure the best possible exploitation of the project. “According to our own information, we do not intend to continue in the long term,” confirms KSV1870's Alexander Gryffender.