Investor Benko's Signa sells Kika/Leiner furniture chain

Signa did not disclose the price of the deal. According to Austrian newspaper Die Presse, proceeds from the sale of the chain's remaining 40 properties should amount to almost as much as Signa paid five year earlier to buy the whole group, including its Eastern European business.

Austrian real estate investor Rene Benko's Signa Group announced on Thursday it was selling the properties of furniture chain Kika/Leiner to real estate firm Supernova Invest, saying it was pulling out of the business for strategic reasons.

The business operations of Kika/Leiner will be taken over by the investment company of its former managing director, Hermann Wieser. Signa did not disclose the price of the deal.

According to Austrian newspaper Die Presse, proceeds from the sale of the chain's remaining 40 properties should amount to almost as much as Signa paid five year earlier to buy the whole group, including its Eastern European business. At that time, the price was rumored to be at 430 million euro ($473.34 million).

Signa bought

Austrian furniture and household goods retailer Kika/Leiner from Steinhoff in 2018, saving it from bankruptcy. The entire Eastern European business was sold right after the takeover.

According to Die Presse, Benko likely earned around 300 million euros with the chain. "Separating from Kika/Leiner was not a decision taken lightly ", Signa Holding CEO Christoph Stadlhuber said in a statement.

From Signa's point of view, the chain's takeover had been "a very good investment" despite a difficult market environment, he added. ($1 = 0.9084 euros)

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