The image of the sinking Titanic comes to mind: René Benko's Signa Group has sprung a leak, is in serious trouble and is in danger of sinking. The real estate division - multi-billionaire Benko's core business - is now also in the throes of insolvency. The German Signa subsidiary Signa Real Estate Management Germany officially filed for bankruptcy on Friday, November 24, 2023, as reported by media outlets such as ORF and Krone.at.

As Wirtschaftswoche reports, the consequences of "this first insolvency in Signa's core real estate business are difficult to assess". This is because the group's structures are unclear. The subsidiary Signa Sports United (SSU) is already facing insolvency after a financial commitment of 150 million euros was withdrawn by Benko's management.

20 Minuten Online writes that the Signa Group needs around 500 million euros by the end of 2023 to avoid going under. An additional 1.5 billion euros are even due by mid-2024 to keep the Signa ship on course.

What impact the insolvency in the core real estate business will have on the bicycle subsidiary SSU is currently difficult to assess. In the real estate sector, there is also the question of what could happen to the Globus department store chain, half of which is owned by Signa. And as Business Insider and Finance Magazine report, Bank Julius Baer has around 600 million euros in play since Signa acquired a stake in Globus four years ago.