Selfridges owner Signa has filed for administration.
The $27bn Austrian property investor, which also owns the Chrysler building in New York, will apply to a court in Vienna to begin insolvency proceedings after failing to secure fresh capital.
Under Austrian corporate law, the business is applying for “self-administration”, meaning the company will restructure itself instead of handing control to an external administrator.
The restructuring is likely to involve the sale of its stake in Selfridges, which Signa and Thailand’s Central Group bought in 2021 in a £4bn deal.
Signa’s stake was diluted earlier this month when Central Group exercised an equity conversion of a €364m shareholder loan.
Signa owes about €13bn to banks and investors, according to an analysis by JP Morgan, although there is uncertainty about this because of the property group’s complicated structure.
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