Johannesburg - Steinhoff International is raising as much as 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion) by selling shares to repay money that the South African furniture and clothing retailer borrowed for recent acquisitions.
The company plans to sell as many as 484 million shares to investors, including a company controlled by chairman Christo Wiese, Steinhoff said in a statement on Wednesday. Steinhoff rose 3.6 percent to 5.24 euros at 10.32am in Frankfurt. The shares were placed at 5.055 euros a share, Tuesday’s closing price.
Steinhoff snapped up UK discount chain Poundland Group and Mattress Firm of the United States in the past year as it aims to challenge the likes of IKEA.
Wiese is South Africa’s richest man with a net worth of $6.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Last month, he said Steinhoff isn’t done with deals as acquisitions are part of the company’s DNA.
Steinhoff employs 90 000 people and has more than 6 500 stores in 30 countries from the UK to Australia. The offering includes new shares and treasury stock.
Upington Investment Holdings, a trust controlled by Wiese, will invest as much as 1.6 billion euros, while Lancaster 101 Proprietary Limited will purchase about 303 million euros. The company also will sell as much as 556 million euros of stock to institutional investors. BofA Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan Chase & Company, BNP Paribas, Citigroup and HSBC arranged the sale to institutions.
BLOOMBERG