Signa’s €5bn mountain of debt is backed by a molehill of capital amounting to just €250m.
Christof Stapf, a Viennese insolvency lawyer, said on Thursday he was taking over the running of Signa Holding after the company’s management failed to put together a viable restructuring plan in the two months since it entered administration.
He said that just €250m of the €5.26bn of debt owed by the Selfridges and Chrysler Building co-owner was secured against tangible assets.
Signa’s web of corporate entities is estimated by analysts to owe in excess of €13bn to creditors.
