Mubadala wins €700m-plus arbitration award in Austria’s Signa property collapse

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment fund Mubadala has been awarded more than 700 million euros ($825 million) in an arbitration case connected to the downfall of Austria’s Signa real estate group, according to creditor protection organisation Creditreform.

The arbitration, conducted under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce, was directed against Signa founder Rene Benko, key holding entities within the Signa Group, and two family trusts. Creditreform said the total amount in dispute in the proceedings was around 900 million euros.

Mubadala is one of several international investors and lenders attempting to recover losses stemming from the collapse of Signa, once one of Europe’s most expansive property empires. Founded by Benko, the group owned high-profile real estate assets across Germany, Austria and Switzerland before entering insolvency in late 2023, after rising interest rates and financing costs triggered severe liquidity stress.

It remains unclear how the arbitration award will be funded. Some observers have pointed to the Laura Private Foundation, controlled by the Benko family, as a potential source of remaining assets. Karl-Heinz Goetze of the KSV 1870 creditors’ association said the foundation appeared to be the only Benko-linked structure with sufficient assets left.

Signa’s two principal operating units — Signa Prime Selection and Signa Development Selection — were not required to bear payment or cost obligations arising from the arbitration, according to their insolvency administrators.

Benko’s lawyer, Norbert Wess, said the arbitration claim against Benko personally had been dismissed, and declined to comment further on the Laura Private Foundation. The International Chamber of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Mubadala also declined to comment.

Benko, once regarded as one of Europe’s most aggressive property developers, has been in custody for about a year and has been convicted twice in fraud cases linked to insolvencies. He is appealing both convictions. The collapse of Signa left investors, including large German and Swiss companies, facing losses running into hundreds of millions of euros.