Europe's Signa Toppled In Property Rout

Property and retail giant Signa has declared insolvency after last-ditch attempts to secure fresh funding failed, making it the biggest casualty so far of Europe's property crash, as reported by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich, John O'Donnell, and Emma-Victoria Farr for Reuters.

The multi-billion-euro group is set to send ripples across the continent's embattled property sector. I Photo: SIGNA

Controlled by Austrian magnate Rene Benko, the group is an owner of New York's Chrysler Building, as well as several high-profile projects and department stores across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

The multi-billion-euro group, whose tentacles reach from Germany's best-known department store, Berlin's KaDeWe, to the country's top high-street chain Galeria and a skyscraper project, is set to send ripples across the continent's embattled property sector.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer sought to play down the significance of the company's collapse. "What's really important is that all those who invested here, especially the banks, stay stable," he told journalists.

"That's critical." Research by analysts at Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International, one of Signa's biggest lenders, warned earlier this week that its difficulties could trigger a wider drop in commercial property prices if it started to offload properties.

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