Logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kühne has spoken comprehensively for the first time about his financial involvement with Austrian real estate entrepreneur René Benko.
“Mr. Benko showed me many beautiful photos of the properties and I let him lull me into a false sense of security,” Kühne said in an interview with WELT AM SONNTAG.
The majority owner of Kühne Nagel has a stake in some luxury properties owned by Benko’s insolvent company Signa through his private holding company. “The property values in these are still there, but there is now a threat of distress sales and then there won’t be much left of the values,” says Kühne.
According to his estimates, he will be affected by losses in the hundreds of millions of euros. “I often ponder how this could have happened to me,” said Kühne. However, the loss is bearable.
Signa Holding announced its insolvency in November. The Elbtower construction site in Hamburg also became a symbol of the bankruptcy. Kühne told WELT AM SONNTAG that he would not rule out a stake in the building.
“A lot of liquidity is needed to complete the Elbtower,” said Kühne. However, if the city of Hamburg develops a sensible concept for the continued construction and the leasing of larger areas and gets involved in this, he would not rule out making his own financial commitment. However, this would require attracting further investors. “I say this with a touch of emotion for my hometown of Hamburg,” said Kühne.
When asked about politics in Germany and the success of the Alternative for Germany party, Kühne said: “I find it astonishing that the AfD has so many supporters.” He himself had not expected the success. “I really hope that many people will recognize what strange people they are,” said Kühne.
After the next federal election, he could imagine the experiment of a black-green coalition if a good division of labor succeeds and green policies are combined with the CDU’s business-friendly policies, said Kühne. “That would be sensible and could work best,” said the entrepreneur.
