In the middle of the Signa chaos:

In the midst of the Signa chaos: Benko buys million-dollar horse

Signa inventor Benko: bought the horse Chageorge in July 2023 via his Laura Foundation, here at a show jumping competition in Spain in January

(Bild: Helmut Fohringer, Herve Bonnaud/1clicphoto, Krone KREATIV)

At the end of July 2023, René Benko's convoluted Signa construct had long had massive financial and liquidity problems. Despite all the turbulence, the Signa boss still found time and money for an investment that was as risky as it was interesting.

René Benko's Signa threatens to go up in flames as early as summer 2023. Following the distress sale of the Kika/Leiner properties, the financial juggler is increasingly desperate to find investors for his financially ailing conglomerate. Former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has just helped to get a 100 million dollar cash injection from Dubai on board. But this is no more than a drop in the Signa ocean. While Benko himself is still trying to persuade his co-investors around Hans Peter Haselsteiner to agree to a capital increase, it is already clear internally that Signa Holding and Signa Prime, the two most important group companies, closed the last financial year with losses in the billions. Only a miracle can save the construct.

The new investment
And what is René Benko doing on the side? He is once again an investor. Not in the real estate sector. Not in retail either, where the speculator from Tyrol has left a trail of blood at Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof and Kika/Leiner at the expense of thousands of workers. Benko buys himself a horse. And not an ordinary one, but a show jumper. The cost: 2.38 million euros.

According to the purchase contract available to Krone, the now nine-year-old stallion is called "Chageorge". The down payment of 200,000 euros net is to be made by July 21, 2023, the large remainder on July 31. Benko is acquiring "Chageorge" via Laura AT 2020 Eins GmbH, a company belonging to his Laura Private Foundation.

Excerpts from the purchase agreement: two million net, payable in two installments

(Bild: zVg)

The installment payment for Kika/Leiner
The purchase at the end of July is explosive. On July 31, 2023, the creditors' committee in the Kika/Leiner bankruptcy case will convene at the St. Pölten regional court. The confidential committee is eagerly awaiting the report of the special administrator, who has been investigating the issues of a possible delay in filing for insolvency and payment flows to Signa companies since mid-June. The explosive question at that time was already: Is anyone liable for the bankruptcy debts - at that time "only" in the Kika/Leiner bankruptcy? However, a lot of taxpayers' money was at stake - the Republic was the largest creditor with a total of more than 90 million euros.

A few weeks later, it is clear that Signa Holding, as the owner of Kika/Leiner for many years, can buy its way out of all sins of the furniture retail past with 20 million euros. Five million will be paid before the final meeting at the end of September. The rest is to be paid in three installments. This installment payment alone should have set alarm bells ringing at the time. Especially for the liquidator. Why can René Benko's Signa Holding, which is supposedly worth billions, only pay off the 20 million in four installments?

Signa inventor Benko: bought the horse "Chageorge" in July 2023 via his Laura Foundation, here at a show jumping competition in Spain in January

(Bild: Helmut Fohringer, Herve Bonnaud/1clicphoto, Krone KREATIV)

The missing 15 million
The bitter end from the taxpayer's point of view: because Signa Holding itself will have the biggest bankruptcy in Austrian economic history at the end of November 2023, it will owe the Republic, i.e. the taxpayer, the promised additional 15 million euros for Kika/Leiner.

At least René Benko, who is in a professional crisis and against whom the Republic has filed for insolvency due to debts to the financial authorities, will be able to enjoy a million-euro horse from summer 2023. Although there are several noteworthy aspects to this transaction at the end of July.

The price issue
Firstly, there is the price issue: before being purchased by Benko's foundation company, the 2.38 million euro stallion "Chageorge" had only won prize money of 580 euros. Since the change of ownership at the end of July 2023, he has won 1285 euros at 31 international shows. Is "Chageorge" a risk investment? After all, the horse is ridden by Christian Kukuk, a top German show jumping rider with an Olympic medal from Ludger Beerbaum's famous stables. Beerbaum, himself a multiple Olympic medal winner, is regarded in the scene as a kind of Michael Schumacher of show jumpers.

Secondly, there is the question of ownership: according to the purchase contract and invoice, "Chageorge" was sold by the German equestrian facility Dagobertshausen. Benko's Laura transferred the remaining installment of just over two million euros to their account by express order on July 31. So far, so good.

The roles of the equestrian legends
However, according to the FEI database, the breeder Paul Schockemöhle and his Lewitz stud have been registered as the owner of "Chageorge" since 2015. Did nobody whisper to the strict equestrian association that the horse was sold to a company owned by the Austrian financial juggler in the summer? And must have previously belonged to the Dagobertshausen equestrian center?

Also strange: a few days ago, Beerbaum Stables appeared in the database as the owner, where "Chageorge" is trained by Christian Kukuk. Does the world's second most successful international show jumper have an explanation for this?

Legend Ludger Beerbaum: four-time Olympic champion, two-time world champion

(Bild: Eibner / EXPA / picturedesk.com)

Beerbaum says to the "Krone": "This is not a deliberate misleading." It could have happened "during an export". Probably a misunderstanding. In any case, the breeder is Schockemöhle. And as far as he knows, the owners of "Chageorge" are the owners of the Dagobertshausen equestrian center.

And who pays the monthly costs for "Chageorge" in the Beerbaum stables? "No owner has contacted me," explains Beerbaum. It's all "through a contact at Schockemöhle".

Apparently, Benko's journey into the world's equestrian elite is not yet over. Wherever the Signa inventor appears, the lack of transparency does not seem far away.