Things have become more intricate for the Bauer Hotel in Venice, with King Street saying no to a sale to Schoeller.
The situation is increasingly more complicated
The property, which is part of the Italian investment portfolio of the Austrian giant Signa in default, is in an increasingly more intricate situation. Following news of the sale of the property to the Swiss-German group Schoeller, the US fund King Street Capital Management, one of the main financiers of Signa itself, to which the ownership of the Venetian hotel had apparently passed a few weeks earlier, immediately intervened.
A pledge that moved from Luxembourg to a Gulf family
“Things are complicated,” says the Italian financial daily Milano Finanza. The issue involves a pledge that, through a Luxembourg sub-holding, weighed on Bauer, in favour of a Gulf family office, which in turn had granted a loan to the company founded by René Benko. Last March, however, the Arabs allegedly assigned their claim to King Street, which, upon announcing the signing of Signa's contract with Schoeller, enforced the pledge through another Luxembourg company traceable to the US fund.
The property is currently valued at around €300 million
The transaction was understandably not appreciated by Schoeller, which intended demanding fulfilment of the contract. Hence the possibility that the Austrian group could sue King Street, which in the meantime, however, has already instructed the financial advisor Eastdil Secured to put the asset on the market. As of now, the property is valued at around €300 million, but the original plans would have been to renovate the hotel, although work to the sum of €150 million is currently at a standstill.
