Did Benko keep tabs on his “adopted father” Berninghaus? – Inside Paradeplatz Square

In 2022, Rene Benko's star is starting to decline. Financial pressures increased, unnoticed by the general public.

That's when Benko reportedly decided to keep tabs on his closest business partner. We're talking about Dieter Berninghaus.

An Israeli company has collected extensive information about the German as of the spring of 2022. He was at the helm of the Migros group until 2016, before moving to Pincus Cigna.

The Austrian real estate and department store group acquired Globus from Migros in 2020 for $1 billion. Migros was later given a discount of 200 million francs, and is now at risk.

The Israelis have created a comprehensive dossier of more than 100 pages on Dieter Berninghaus, his environment and activities.

Among other things, Berninghaus's “communication” became “communication.” Globus is a co-investor from Thailand And also the time I spent at the helm of the Migros Group.

What happened to the report is unknown.

Those close to Benko said on Friday that they had no knowledge of this shading.

According to a Berninghouse spokesman, he knew nothing about such actions by his former “boss.”

Benko and Berninghaus were very close. The two were like son and father.

Benko often called Berninghaus home late at night to tell him about his work day, according to an insider.

Berninghaus gave a lot of money to Benko, and gave up a lot in the process. This could now cause problems for Berninghouse.

In 2014, when Berninghaus headed the commercial division of the Migros cooperative (MGB), the German arranged the purchase of Benko's Galleria department stores.

For this reason, a subsidiary of Signa paid about $5 million to a consulting firm in central Switzerland belonging to Berninghaus's wife.

the This was revealed by the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper. Yesterday our sister newspaper SonntagsZeitung doubled.

An advisory firm in Schwyz called Retail Capital Partners (RCP) has a total of 2013 to 2023 135 million francs from Cigna Group to receive.

The company disputes the amount to the newspaper.

A few weeks ago, Hendrik Gottschlik, president of RCP, said in response to questions about the spin-off and possible sales because Signa could no longer be the main customer:

“Our client base is widely diverse in the DACH region. We work for many clients in the retail and FMCG sectors. Signa is an important client, but it is not the client that RCP relies on.

Migros' leadership responded to Tamedia's revelations. MGB president Ursula Nolde announced an investigation on Friday on the sidelines of the main renewal media conference By an outside law firm in.

The focus is on the question of whether Berninghaus violated regulations regarding conflicts of interest with the mandate of Banco or Cigna in the years from 2014, when he sat in the top management of operations.

An MGB spokesperson said: “Migros has clearly regulated the duties of care and loyalty that are binding on everyone.”

In addition to the Code of Commitments, the “Migros Personnel Regulations and Conditions of Employment Management” will regulate the pursuit of part-time work.

“This can only be approved if the risk of a conflict of interest can be excluded and if the performance of members of the management team is not affected.”

In response to questions from the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper last week, Berninghaus said he would first explain his actions at the time to the current Migros leadership before commenting publicly on them.

Cigna's billion-dollar collapse – the largest ever in modern Austrian economic history – is said to be affecting Rene Benko.

Opposite Tiroler Zeitung The former businessman's companions described him as a “broken man.” In the story, Berninghaus is described as Benko's most important caregiver.

“Once Benko and Burninghouse had agreed on a strategy and the decision had been made, she was run over by a train.”

“It was no longer possible to confront this from the outside,” the newspaper says, according to a Cigna employee.

Berninghaus left a deep mark on Migros, and not just because of the subsequent Globes sale. The German Depot Group was also acquired during his tenure as head of trading at MGB.

The decoration chain has evolved into a mass grave for the orange giant: the Swiss retailer has a net worth of $800 million Hooked on adventure.

In 2019, MGB Depot was sold again to the previous founder, German businessman Christian Gries. Gries and Berninghaus are friends.

Berninghaus was brought to Migros by his close friend Philippe Guidol. It was the Denner heir who took care of Berninghaus after his legal difficulties in Germany during his tenure as head of the Rewe retail chain.

When Gaidol sold Denner to Migros for billions, the then head of MGB, Herbert Bolliger, brought Berninghaus, Gaidol's intimate partner, into the management of his company.

As part of a major retail deal at the time – unlike the shift to Germany and many other investments, this deal paid off for the co-op giant.