RAG Foundation

"In 2017, the foundation board decides to invest in Signa, with RAG acquiring a 5 percent stake in Prime and a 3.5 percent stake in Development, almost simultaneously the Agricultural Insurance Association from Münster (LVM) also strikes. Benko is aware of the needs of insurers and foundations that rely on generating returns. Representatives of the RAG Foundation even join the supervisory board of Signa real estate companies, but remain largely invisible there."

"It's only when it's too late that Berger, like most investors, realizes that the trading business is primarily intended to contribute to the real estate business. He receives his Signa shares not from a capital increase, but directly from Benko himself. Money that flows into the private sphere of the real estate juggler who gradually sells shares to further investors, thus increasing his personal wealth. The zero-interest phase plays into Benko's hands, the fundraising runs almost like the mechanism of an automatic watch. Everywhere, large institutional investors are looking for new investment opportunities, such as the RAG Foundation from the Ruhr area, founded to finance the perpetual burdens of coal mining in Germany, ultimately to save the Ruhr area from collapse."

"However, many things were quite different from what is known from the stock market, where all shareholders are treated equally. Benko is said to have told each Signa investor their own tailored story. Many had an individual special deal. Some, like the RAG Foundation or Kühne, received dividends for 2022 if they made a fuss – something the other shareholders were not allowed to know. Some, like Roland Berger or temporarily Torsten Toeller, were allowed to attend the supervisory board of Prime as guests if they insisted. Others were not. Numerous investors were given put options, which allowed them to exit within certain periods. Others were not."