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"We
want to invest more intensely in the U.S. in the next two
years," Benko told an event in Berlin, adding that part of the
motive for seeking to build up a second base alongside his
European portfolio was to diversify his currency exposure.
Benko bought the Chrysler Building - an art-deco tower which is
considered a crown jewel of the city's skyline - in partnership
with property firm RFR Holding LLC for about $150 million,
Signa's debut in the U.S. property sector.
Founded by Benko in 1999, the value of Signa's real estate
assets will exceed 20 billion euros ($22 billion) by the end of
the year, including landmark buildings like Berlin's KaDeWe
department store and Vienna's Goldenes Quartier.
Signa said in September it had raised 700 million euros in new
funds from existing investors and was planning a 500 million
euro capital increase to give it liquidity reserves of more than
1 billion euros for future acquisitions.
Benko has diversified into retail in the past few years, buying
German department stores Kaufhof and Karstadt and merging them
into Europe's second biggest department store chain.
Benko said he was upbeat about the prospects for city center
real estate despite ecommerce players taking sales from
bricks-and-mortar stores, because people still come downtown to
eat, work and enjoy cultural offerings, as well as shop.
"We are optimistic that inner cities will flourish in the next
few years," he said, adding he was no longer investing in
shopping malls to focus instead on inner cities.
Signa is working hard to improve the online offering of Kaufhof
and Karstadt, Benko said, noting that only a small proportion of
the 1.7 million articles on sale in store were currently
available online.
About 1 billion euros of Signa's 7.5 billion in retail revenues
come from ecommerce and Benko wants to grow that, particularly
if stores and websites work better together, for example
allowing goods to be shipped from stores to home.
However, he expects ecommerce to face increasing hurdles as
cities push back against the congestion caused by delivery vans
and as concerns mount about the environmental impact of
packaging and returns of unwanted goods ordered online.
"If the volume of online trade keeps doubling there is a natural
barrier," he said.
(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Mark Potter)
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