Christo Wiese digs deep to try to stem the sale of Steinhoff stock
Billionaire Wiese, who is Steinhoff’s biggest shareholder, is stepping up efforts to save the company, which owes creditors as much as $21bn
London — Steinhoff International chairperson Christo Wiese, seeking to stabilise the embattled retailer, is negotiating a standstill agreement on a €1.5bn margin loan under which banks would suspend the sale of stock until 2018, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. The owner of Mattress Firm in the US and Poundland in the UK needs a lifeline after its stock plunged last week when it delayed publication of its financial results because of possible accounting irregularities that prompted the resignation of CEO Markus Jooste. Wiese, a billionaire who’s Steinhoff’s biggest shareholder, is stepping up efforts to save the company, which owes creditors as much as $21bn. Last year, Wiese pledged 628-million of Steinhoff’s shares in collateral to borrow money from Citigroup, HSBC and Nomura. That was to participate in a share sale in conjunction with Steinhoff’s acquisition of Mattress Firm and Poundland, according to a company statement.
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