Steinhoff International Holdings N.V.

Steinhoff Says Deals With Ex-Chairman Wiese Broke Company Rules

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10. April 2018, 10:59 MESZ Updated on 10. April 2018, 12:07 MESZ
Retailer is seeking repayment from billionaire ex-chairman
Transactions with Wiese came in run-up to accounting scandal
Steinhoff International Holdings NV said two deals with entities related to its former chairman and biggest shareholder Christo Wiese didn’t follow proper disclosure processes, dragging the South African billionaire deeper into an accounting crisis.

The agreements were made in the two months leading up to the emergence of financial irregularities that have wiped more than 90 percent off the value of the retailer since December. Steinhoff has since investigated the deals and is in the process of receiving repayment, it said in a statement.

Wiese said by phone he would comment on Steinhoff’s statement later Tuesday.

Steinhoff stock plunged as much as 25 percent in Frankfurt, and traded 10 percent lower at 11:44 a.m. local time.


Wiese has so far distanced himself from the crisis that’s engulfed Steinhoff, the owner of retailers including Conforama in France and The Mattress Firm in the U.S. To date, the only executive implicated directly is former Chief Executive Officer Markus Jooste, who quit on Dec. 5, when Steinhoff first reported accounting irregularities. Wiese told lawmakers earlier this year that the announcement came to him as a “bolt from the blue” and that he had no prior knowledge of any wrongdoing.

Off-Balance-Sheet
Steinhoff has hired auditors at PwC to investigate its accounts, with a particular focus on off-balance-sheet transactions and third-party relations.