Fallen Galeria owner René Benko seeks insolvency

Galeria owner René Benko has filed for insolvency for himself. A lot of creditors, including the Austrian tax authorities, are hot on his heels.

After the fall of Signa

The real estate tycoon’s empire is falling apart now that the businessman has also started insolvency proceedings for his private company. Late last year, the curtain fell on his real estate and retail holding company Signa, which included Galeria, Belgian subsidiary Inno and Dutch Bijenkorf.

As a result, several subsidiaries also fell, including department store group Galeria. That department store group is now up for sale and reportedly would have attracted quite a bit of interest in an initial bidding round in February. Selfridges and Bijenkorf in turn had to seek help from their Thai co-shareholder. A separate sale procedure is under way for Inno.

The billionaire’s private assets are also in jeopardy, now that the public prosecutor in Austria is also requesting his insolvency. Reportedly, Benko owes the tax authorities two million euros. In December, the entrepreneur already put his luxury yacht and some works of art up for sale. There is a possibility that he himself went to court to protect himself from his creditors. Last summer, Forbes still estimated René Benko’s wealth at 5.5 billion euros, but by the end of November already more than half of that had gone.