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The story
Founded by Bruno Steinhoff in 1964, in Westerstede.1
Steinhoff was founded in 1964 by Bruno Steinhoff in Westerstede, Germany. Bruno Steinhoff sourced furniture from communist countries in Europe, for resale in Western Europe. In 1997, Steinhoff acquired 35 per cent of Gommagomma, a furniture company based in South Africa, and prepared for a merger the following year. The company moved its headquarters to South Africa in 1998, attracted by the low production costs there, and went public on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that same year. The merged group was headed by Bruno Steinhoff as executive chairman and Markus Jooste as managing director.
Expansion
In subsequent years, Steinhoff acquisitions included an £86 million investment in the United Kingdom's Homestyle Group, in 2005; and, in 2011, a $1.2 billion investment in French Conforama, Europe's second largest retailer of home furnishings, with over 200 stores in France, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Italy and Croatia; and, in 2013, the acquisition of Austrian home retailer Kika-Leiner. In 2015, Steinhoff acquired Pepkor, a South African investment and holding company focused on low-end retail; the $5.7 billion cash-and-share deal made Christo Wiese Steinhoff's largest shareholder and chairman.
In December 2015, Steinhoff International moved its primary listing from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and founded a new Dutch holding company, Steinhoff International Holdings NV, based in Amsterdam. This move reflected Steinhoff's shift from its traditional markets, in the Indian Ocean basin, to the European market. The management remained in South Africa. As of May 2020, Steinhoff International Holdings NV remained headquartered in Amsterdam.
In March 2016, Steinhoff was a member of MDAX with capitalization of over €20 billion but had a low trading volume.
In July 2016, UK discount retail chain Poundland accepted Steinhoff's takeover offer of £597 million which was then increased by Steinhoff to £610 million in August 2016. The takeover received shareholder approval in September 2016.
As of August 2016, Steinhoff held retailing activities in 30 countries, counting 6,500 retail outlets belonging to 40 different brands, and employing about 90,000 employees. 60 per cent of the company's revenue, and two-thirds of its benefits, were made in Europe.
In August 2016, Steinhoff announced its plan to purchase the United States-based Mattress Firm for $3.8 billion. In February 2017, Steinhoff and South African retail giant Shoprite called off a proposed merger.
In 2017, Mattress Firm split from its supplier Tempur Sealy. In October 2018, Mattress Firm filed for bankruptcy but emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy 2 months later after financial restructuring with support from AlixPartners.
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Debt problems
More significantly, in the aftermath of a major accounting scandal in 2017–2019 (see below), Steinhoff faced significant debts – $10 billion worth – and possible further liabilities due to civil claims against it, even as its creditors withdrew their credit facilities. Among the casualties was a consortium of lenders, including Japanese bank Nomura and a range of U.S. institutions, which had extended a $1.9 billion margin loan to Steinhoff. Nomura confirmed that it had booked an unrealised loss of 14 billion yen ($128 million). In 2018, Steinhoff negotiated with its creditors a three-year reprieve on debt repayment.
On 25 April 2018, Extreme Digital, a Hungarian e commerce firm acquired by Steinhoff in October 2015, was resold to their founders Balázs Várkonyi and Gyula Kelemen through their buying back shares.
As of August 2019, Steinhoff creditors had received a 50 per cent stake in Conforama.
In September 2019, the company told its shareholders that it would address its debts by selling off its non-retail assets and cutting jobs at Conforma. Du Preez said that, "We believe the only way for Steinhoff to survive is for it to become a pure investment holding company. The group cannot trade itself out of this debt." The company said that it intended to develop its markets in Eastern Europe (through Pepco) and Britain (Poundland) through its Pepkor Europe assets alongside its core interests in South Africa. During this period, Steinhoff sold its shares in Unitrans, a car dealer network; sold its shares in KAP Industrial and PSG Group (in South Africa) and in Showroomprivé (in Europe); and also sold property assets attached to its retail operations in Europe.
In November 2019, UK chains Bensons for Beds and Harveys and upholstery and bedding manufacturer Relyon were sold by Steinhoff to UK-based private equity group Alteri Investors.
On 8 July 2020, Steinhoff sold its remaining stake in Conforama France to Mobilux Sàrl which has been the furniture retailer BUT's parent company since 2016. Mobilux has 50-50 ownership by both Andreas Seifert's WM Holding, which is associated with XXXLutz through its owner Andreas Seifert, and the American investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). In France, IKEA is the largest furniture retailer with a 15.43 per cent market share and Conforama and BUT have market shares of 10.86 per cent and 10.34 per cent which are second and third, respectively.
As of 2023, Steinhoff had 45 per cent ownership in MattressFirm, 79 per cent ownership in Europe's Pepco Group, 43 per cent ownership in South Africa's Pepkor Holdings, and full ownership of Greenlit Brands in Australia and New Zealand.
From Wikipedia’s article on Steinhoff International, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4