Steinhoff’s shady forestry deals come to light
A company linked to Steinhoff executives bought forestry plantations, and later sold them to Steinhoff at inflated prices
A company linked to executives of Steinhoff International Holdings bought South African forestry plantations in 2001 and then sold them to the retailer three years later for more than five times their original value, documents show. Steinhoff, whose shares plunged 96% after disclosing accounting irregularities and CEO Markus Jooste quit in December, commissioned PwC to investigate its finances and has said restatements may have to go back to at least 2015. The forestry deal is similar to car dealership transactions Steinhoff carried out in 2007 where it bought properties from companies linked to Jooste at a multiple of their initial value.
Steinhoff declined to comment on the forestry transactions, saying it is awaiting the outcome of the PwC probe. Since December the global retailer has been selling assets and trying to persuade creditors owed more than €9bn not to force it into insolvency. With the equivalent of almost $17bn having been wiped off its market value, the saga h...
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