Steinhoff realises $1.1bn selling the small stuff — a sign of desperation
Johannesburg/London — Steinhoff International Holdings’s quest for cash has yielded about $1.1bn from asset sales as the embattled retailer struggles to stay afloat. The question is whether the relatively small steps it’s taken can forestall more radical ones. Since revelations last month of accounting irregularities, Steinhoff sold the company jet, shed stakeholdings and sought to refinance debt to free up funds. It even ended its sponsorship of the rugby team at Stellenbosch University, the alma mater of former CEO Markus Jooste. "Scrambling around to find relatively small amounts of money points to the extent of the problems," said Charles Allen, a London-based analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. In its largest move so far, the company on Monday sold R7.1bn ($590m) of stock in financial-services firm PSG Group. Steinhoff, which snapped up French furniture retailer Conforama, British discount chain Poundland and Mattress Firm of the US in the past decade, may have little choice but...
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