Signa heading for brutal pain

Reality check: While Benko’s group is based in Austria, much of its portfolio is in Europe’s largest economy, where the property market was seen as a safe haven until recently. — AFP

THE Upper West high-rise overlooking Berlin’s bustling Kurfurstendamm shopping boulevard is one of many glittering trophies in the portfolio of Rene Benko’s collapsing Signa, but its robust valuation reflects how much pain is in store in the cleanup of the real estate empire.

Despite turmoil triggered by the end of the cheap-money era, the 35-storey tower was still valued at more than €700mil (US$760mil) at the end of last year, according to a report prepared by broker Jones Lang LaSalle Inc in April and seen by Bloomberg News.