Austria's Benko to hand Signa over to restructuring expert - investor

(Reuters) - Austrian entrepreneur Rene Benko is handing control of Signa Holding to a restructuring expert to try to save the real estate company hit by global property market turmoil, investor Hans Peter Haselsteiner said on Friday.

Haselsteiner told broadcaster ORF that Benko was handing Signa over to Arndt Geiwitz, best known for his role in the insolvency proceedings of Germany's Galeria Kaufhof-Karstadt department stores and drug store chain Schlecker.

Shareholders had noted Benko's step "with approval", as there was "complete trust in Mr. Geiwitz", Haselsteiner said, adding Geiwitz would be handed all the voting rights that Benko or his foundations had in Signa.

Signa was not immediately available to comment and Benko could not immediately be reached directly for comment. A spokesperson for Geiwitz was not able to confirm Haselsteiner's statement and did not provide any details. Haselsteiner did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

A Signa spokesperson told Reuters last month that Geiwitz was already advising the company.

"The shareholders have asked Rene Benko to go one step further and appoint Mr. Geiwitz not only as a restructuring adviser but also as a kind of general representative," Haselsteiner said.

Although Benko has officially no operational function at Signa and only serves as the chair of the Signa advisory group, he is considered the mastermind and boss. His direct and indirect stake adds up to around 50%, according to ORF.

Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Thursday that Signa shareholders had written to Benko, a self-made billionaire who at times has owned New York's Chrysler Building and Berlin's KaDeWe luxury department store, asking him to hand over his voting rights to a trustee to try to save the group.

(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich und Matthias Inverardi, Writing by Linda Pasquini; Editing by Mark Potter)