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Cape Town - Steinhoff on Tuesday announced it had initiated the process of seeking waivers from the holders of €2.68bn (roughly R40.2bn) of its bonds.
This comes after the global retail company failed to submit its 2017 financial results on time. The results have been delayed as PwC carries out a forensic investigation into accounting irregularities at the firm.
Steinhoff has said it cannot yet say when the PwC audit will be complete.
The Stellenbosch-headquartered group has been approaching creditors, bond holders and banks to grant the firm waivers while the PwC completes its independent investigation.
On Tuesday in a market announcement Steinhoff said that it had begun the process of seeking waivers from the holders of €465m in convertible bonds due in 2021, €1 116m in convertible bonds due 2022, and €1 100m in convertible bonds due in 2023.
This corresponds to roughly R40.2bn in bonds at current exchange rates.
The waivers being sought from the holders of the bonds related to the failure by the issuer to deliver certificates of compliance in light of the accounting irregularities announced by the company on December 5 2017 and related matters, it said.
Steinhoff, whose share price had plunged by over 80% since financial irregularities in its books were first flagged by its auditors Deloittee in early December 2017, has already received a wavier from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange to keep its shares trading.
The retail group has since 2015 had its primary listing in the FSE, and a secondary listing om the JSE.
The bonds in question were issued by Steinhoff Finance Holding, the Austrian-domiciled group that contains much of Steinhoff’s European assets.
Steinhoff Finance Holding, meanwhile, is 100% owned by Steinhoff International Holdings, the group’s parent company.
Court case update
In separate news, Steinhoff on Tuesday told Fin24 that it had received a notice of summons from Dutch investor association VEB that wants to take the global retailer to court over publishing incorrect and misleading financial statements.
“Steinhoff confirms that it has been served with a summons from VEB and it is unable at this early stage to comment on the merits of the matter. We have instructed our legal team to respond to the claim,” a Steinhoff spokesperson said.
The Vereniging van Effectenbezitters (VEB), in a media statement published on Friday, said it wants a court in Amsterdam to declare that Steinhoff was responsible for making a number of incorrect and misleading statements around its financial situation.
If a court were to declare this, it would constitute a first step in opening Steinhoff up to possible class-action style lawsuits.
