Steinhoff Announces Settlement Agreement With Insurers And Directors
Steinhoff Announces Settlement Agreement With Insurers And Directors. Embattled global retailer Steinhoff says it has reached an agreement of up to R1.37 billion with some of its former directors and their insurers, as it battles to settle lawsuits that threaten its survival. The agreement with directors and officers excludes former CEO Markus Jooste, former CFO Ben La Grange, former secretary Stehan Grobler and the group’s ex-Steinhoff Europe director Siegmar Schmidt, it said. Steinhoff said it maintains the right to institute or continue claims against the four for their alleged involvement in the fraud and against legal entities and other individuals said to have received payments by the group’s companies.
The agreement will be in addition to that of its former auditor Deloitte, which agreed in February to support the plan and pay up to R1. 37 billion to settle some claims. “Deloitte, the D&O insurers and the settling D&Os do not in any way admit liability for the losses incurred by Steinhoff and its stakeholders as a result of the accounting irregularities at Steinhoff,” the company told Reuters.
As part of the agreement, also with Steinhoff’s certain former directors and officers (D&Os) such as founder Bruno Steinhoff and former chair Christo Wiese, the insurers will offer an amount of up to R980 million to market-purchase claimants “in exchange for certain waivers and releases”. The furniture and clothing retailer said R265 million would be paid to certain contractual claimants.
Steinhoff International is a South African-German-Dutch international retail holding company that is dual listed in Germany and South Africa. Steinhoff deals mainly in furniture and household goods, and operates in Europe, Africa, Asia, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Steinhoff was founded in 1964 by Bruno Steinhoff in Westerstede, Germany. Bruno Steinhoff sourced furniture from communist Europe and sold it in Western Europe. In 1997, Steinhoff acquired 35% of South-Africa-based Gommagomma, preparing for a merger the following year. The company moved its headquarters to South Africa in 1998, attracted by the low production costs, and went public on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that same year.
