Signa Group Stabilizes After Insolvency: Former CFO Retires
Following the collapse of the real estate group Signa, the former CFO Manuel Pirolt sees the company stabilized and announces his resignation.
In Signa Prime, Benko has bundled Signa's shares in well-known properties such as the KaDeWe department store in Berlin. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons; Jochen Teufel, CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
Manuel Pirolt, the former CFO of the insolvent real estate group Signa, has announced in an interview with the weekly magazine "Profil" that he will be leaving the company. Pirolt, who had been with Signa since 2011 and made a significant contribution to the company's rise, now sees the group as stabilized after its collapse. "The time has come for me to leave the company," he explained.
While Pirolt will continue to be available to the insolvency administrator in an advisory capacity, he will also have to face investigations by the public prosecutor's office. He is being investigated in five cases, including allegations of fraud in connection with a loan extension at Bank Schelhammer Capital and a voluntary disclosure by Signa regarding delayed capital gains tax payments. In addition, investigations into the alleged improper use of investor funds and money laundering proceedings are underway at the Munich public prosecutor's office.
In the interview, Pirolt clearly distances himself from Signa founder René Benko. Although Benko no longer officially held any corporate functions at Signa, according to Pirolt he was "very present" and heavily involved in many company projects. However, Pirolt emphasized that he and Benko were not personal friends.
For thirteen years, Pirolt was the number two behind Benko and, as CFO, a key figure in Signa's corporate structure. In recent months, he felt compelled to take a public stand to help stabilize the company and avert further damage. However, his involvement had an expiration date, and now that stabilization has been achieved, he is stepping down from the Management Board of the central real estate companies Signa Prime and Signa Development Selection.
Trust and responsibility
Pirolt was not only on the board of Signa Holdings, but also held numerous other positions in the Benko environment. In 2015, he also became a board member of Benko's Laura Private Foundation, which manages a significant portion of the family's assets. He is now also stepping down from this foundation.
Manuel Pirolt's resignation marks the end of an era at Signa. His contribution to stabilizing the company after its collapse is undisputed, but the ongoing investigations continue to cast a shadow over his time at Signa. While Pirolt retires, the future of the company and the outcome of the legal proceedings remains to be seen.