JOHANNESBURG - Steinhoff Africa Retail (STAR) said on Wednesday it had raised R18 billion in funding from South African financial institutions.
The company said the funding was used to repay its shareholder funding of R16 billion provided by Steinhoff International Holdings as part of STAR’s listing in September 2017. This facilitated the cancellation of all third party guarantees related to the financing of the shareholder funding.
The additional R2-billion was raised in line with STAR’s growth in operations.
"STAR has some of the top retail brands in South Africa and has a successful and established track record of providing value to its customers. The refinancing provides a platform from which we can grow our business to its full potential," chief executive officer Leon Lourens said.
Of the R18 billion, R12 billion will be financed with between three and five year repayment terms at interest rates that are in line with current rates. The remaining R6 billion will be funded through preference shares issued to South African financial institutions.
STAR is the largest non-food retailer in Africa with 2.3 million square metres in retail space across its 5,000 store footprint in 12 countries.
Previously known as Pepkor, the company's retail brands include Pep, Ackermans, Dealz, Powersales, Dunns, Incredible Connection, Russells, Bradlows, John Craig, Shoe City, Sleepmasters, Poco, Tekkie Town, Flash, Refinery, BUCO, The Tile House, HiFi Corp, Rochester and Timbercity.
The group currently employs more than 45,000 people across its business in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Uganda and Nigeria.