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Johannesburg - South African-based household goods company Steinhoff International Holdings [JSE:SHF] said on Monday that it had reached an agreement with French company PPR to acquire at least 8 367 629 shares in European retailer Conforama, giving it 99.98% control.
The deal is worth R11.04bn.
The remaining 0.02% of the issued share capital of Conforama is held by third parties other than PPR and its affiliates, and includes a number of unclaimed shares.
Steinhoff said the transaction would be financed from a mix of available cash resources, acquisition debt facilities and equity that will include a combination of up to 137 million reserved ordinary shares to be vendor-placed and unlisted perpetual preference shares.
Conforama will become a subsidiary company of Steinhoff.
"The transaction consideration is based on a warranted audited EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of €200m for the year ended December 31 2010," it said.
The transaction remains subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, including Steinhoff shareholders passing the resolutions required to approve and implement the transaction; and the obtainment of the appropriate authorisations or determinations from the relevant competition authorities in Europe, by no later than June 30 2011."
Steinhoff has secured the support of holders of 53% of its ordinary shares for this transaction.
Conforama is a leading retailer of furniture and household goods and operates a network of 241 stores, of which 190 are located in France, making it France's second-largest furniture and household goods retailer.
Its sales amounted to €3.01bn for the 12 months ended June 2010 and it employs 13 400 people.
PPR, led by chairperson and CE François-Henri Pinault, is a French multinational holding company specialising in luxury and consumer brands - including Puma, Redcats and the Gucci Group.
