As of: March 28, 2024, 1:03 p.m
By: Amy Walker
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The bankruptcies in René Benko's empire continue. Now the Benko family's private foundation in Innsbruck has also filed for bankruptcy.
Innsbruck – After René Benko himself filed for bankruptcy, his private foundation is now also following suit. On Thursday (March 28), the Benko family private foundation in Innsbruck filed for bankruptcy, Austrian media reported. The foundation's assets also include investments in the insolvent Signa Holding, which went bankrupt in November 2023.
Almost a month ago, the real estate mogul had to file for bankruptcy himself as a private entrepreneur. The Tyrolean investor Benko had built up an empire with many prestigious properties over the years and was long considered one of the richest Austrians. In Germany he became known primarily through the purchase of the KaDeWe properties.
250 million euros in assets in the Benko Foundation
The Benko Family Private Foundation is one of three foundations in which René Benko is said to have parked his assets. As the Austrian
Kronen Zeitung
reports, the assets of the now insolvent foundation are said to have amounted to 250 million euros. There is a suspicion that money from this foundation flowed into Signa Holding as a financial injection in 2023.
The Signa bankruptcy is the largest bankruptcy in Austria's history. There are increasing indications that sooner or later René Benko will be held responsible for this. In addition to Signa Holding, the two companies Signa Development and Signa Prime also had to file for bankruptcy. Signa Prime's portfolio includes, among others, the Hamburg Elbtower project, the Berlin KaDeWe department store and a number of properties from the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department store chain. All of these companies have now also had to file for bankruptcy.
René Benko is the founder of the insolvent Signa Group. © Helmut Fohringer/APA/dpa
But things will probably continue for Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof: there should be clarity by April, the insolvency administrator is probably negotiating with two possible interested parties who would like to buy the department store chain. Galeria cited the high rent payments that Signa had demanded as the reason for the imbalance. Benko's insolvent group also owned almost 20 of the department store properties.