Wiese punts restructure to ward off Steinhoff suit

Companies in dollar billionaire and former Steinhoff chairman Christo Wiese’s Titan Group are suing Steinhoff for R59-billion.

Titan Group served summons on Steinhoff International Holdings‚ registered in South Africa‚ and Steinhoff International Holdings NV‚ registered in the Netherlands.

It claims that an agreement it entered into with Steinhoff International Holdings in 2015 was cancelled.

In line with the agreement‚ the Titan Group subscribed for shares in Steinhoff after acquiring Pepkor Ltd.

“They now claim repayment of the subscription amount‚” the Titan Group said yesterday.

The second claim is for the capital injection into Steinhoff in 2016 to meet its debt obligations when it bought Mattress Firm in the United States.

Wiese’s attorney said in a letter accompanying the summons that Wiese believed Steinhoff should be restructured on fair and equitable terms.
Wiese said the Steinhoff group owned some excellent businesses. “In a restructured Steinhoff‚ these businesses have every potential of continuing to create value,” he said.

Wiese said Titan was “prepared to hold further steps in abeyance by agreement if discussions with a reasonable prospect of success could be arranged forthwith”.

He said Titan wanted to ensure that Steinhoff remained a sustainable company.

“This would require inter alia a restructuring of its current debt.

“This prospect is based on the continued excellent performance of the STAR group (containing most of the original Pepkor businesses) of which Steinhoff is the controlling shareholder‚” he said.

“The other businesses in the Steinhoff group offer good prospects and I strongly believe every attempt possible should be made to restructure the group as expeditiously as possible.”

Steinhoff shares have slumped almost 95% since accounting irregularities emerged in December that wiped off more than R182-billion of its market value. – TimesLIVE