Benko’s €23 Billion Empire Starts Crumbling With Insolvency (2)

A unit of Signa Prime Selection AG filed for insolvency in a Berlin court on Friday, Der Spiegel said, indicating efforts to save the sprawling property and retail conglomerate are faltering.

Signa Real Estate Management Germany GmbH couldn’t meet its payment obligations, the German magazine said, citing a request submitted by the company. The firm is a fully-owned subsidiary of Signa Prime, which co-owns the Selfridges department store in London and Berlin’s KaDeWe, and is itself the largest division in the group founded by Austrian tycoon Rene Benko.

A full-blown insolvency of Signa Prime could come as a shock ...