ON THE MONEY
STUART THEOBALD: Steinhoff catastrophe biggest yet in SA and ranks among notorious global collapses
The Steinhoff corporate disaster is the biggest yet to hit SA. The value destruction in Steinhoff so far is 30 times the 2015 collapse of African Bank, depending on how it is measured, and multiples more the size of JCI, Tigon, Fidentia, First Strut, and the many other corporate collapses of the past two decades. Steinhoff’s implosion ranks alongside global corporate collapses such as that of WorldCom, Tyco and drug company Valeant. Only 27% of Steinhoff’s revenue was generated in Africa. The company was global in operations and its collapse is global in its consequences. The company is not yet dead, though there has been very little information to assess its chances of survival. Its shares continue to trade, almost 90% down on their value a week ago. Its listed bonds are trading at about half of their face value. The company has said it is concerned about the "validity and recoverability" of €6bn in non-South African assets. That is equivalent to R96bn. But R187bn has been wiped of...
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