In the case of the Signa bankruptcy, the arbitration tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) made a ruling in favor of one of the most important creditors. The ICC has awarded the sovereign wealth fund Mubadala from the United Arab Emirates around 700 million euros for violating financing agreements, said the creditor protection association Creditreform. The Arbitration Court is a non-governmental body for commercial and investment disputes.
Those affected by the judgment include Signa Holding, the Benko Family Private Foundation and the Laura Private Foundation, said the insolvency manager of the Credit Protection Association 1870, Karl-Heinz Götze. The saying is particularly relevant for the non-insolvent Laura Private Foundation. The foundation is believed to have considerable assets.
Good news for some of the creditors
However, the insolvent Signa Prime, which specializes in high-quality real estate, and the also insolvent Signa Development are not affected. The verdict is very positive for the 370 creditors of Signa Development, said insolvency administrator Andrea Fruhstorfer. At Signa Development, the claims registered amounted to around 2.5 billion euros. According to Signa Prime, around 5 billion euros are currently recognized as repayments.
“No final line yet”
The exact consequences of the verdict are still difficult to estimate, said Götze. There will still be many legal disputes. “That’s not the end of it.” Creditreform also said that the legal issues were highly complex. “It will be crucial how the insolvency administrators will deal with this new situation.”
The Austrian investor René Benko had built up a billion-dollar fortune with his complex real estate and trading empire Signa over around 20 years. Rising interest rates and construction costs, as well as risky acquisitions such as those of the German department store groups Karstadt and Kaufhof, drove Signa into bankruptcy. Benko, against whom the judiciary is investigating around a dozen suspicions, has been in custody for a year.
