SIGNA Group
Founded in 2010 by Austrian entrepreneur René Benko and based in Austria, SIGNA Prime Selection ("SIGNA Prime") is a private real estate company specialising in commercial and office property, mainly in Germany, Austria, the UK and Switzerland.
SIGNA Prime Selection AG is a private real estate company specialising in retail and office property. SIGNA Development Selection AG is a property development company whose strategy is to develop real estate projects with a view to leasing them and selling them to investors.
The two companies operate mainly in German-speaking Europe and, to a lesser extent, in the UK and northern Italy. They are controlled by SIGNA Holding GmbH and are part of the Austrian SIGNA group founded by René Benko.
- Investment date
- 2019
Peugeot Invest's investment
At 31 December 2023, Peugeot Invest (via its wholly owned subsidiary Peugeot Invest UK Ltd) held a 4.6% stake in SIGNA Prime Selection AG and a 5% stake in SIGNA Development Selection AG. Given the uncertainty surrounding these companies’ ability to continue as a going concern, Peugeot Invest has fully written down the value of these two investments in its financial statements at 31 December 2023.
Robert Peugeot, who was a member of the Supervisory Board of both companies, resigned from these offices on 3 November 2023.
In 2023
In 2023, facing tougher market conditions from 2022 and rapid changes in the real estate sector, companies reviewed their strategy to improve their liquidity, including halting acquisitions, postponing ongoing projects and disposing of assets. Despite these measures, they encountered a liquidity crisis in the second half of 2023, exacerbated by the stop of major projects.
Faced with these challenges and the inability to meet payment deadlines, SIGNA Prime Selection AG and SIGNA Development Selection AG filed for insolvency proceedings under self-administration (Sanierungsverfahren mit Eigenverwaltung) with the Vienna Commercial Court on 29 and 30 December 2023, respectively. This type of procedure makes it possible to benefit from the expertise of the existing management to facilitate the restructuring of the company while safeguarding the interests of creditors through a courtappointed administrator. The receivers appointed are Norbert Abel for SIGNA Prime Selection AG and Andrea Fruhstorfer for SIGNA Development Selection AG.