US Mattress Firm gives SA owners sleepless nights
Mattress Firm will be accounted for as an equity accounted investment
Steinhoff International has lost control of its largest investment in the northern hemisphere, the company said this week. Mattress Firm, the largest bed retailer in the US, which it bought for $3.8bn (R54bn) less than three years ago, will no longer be accounted for as a subsidiary on its books. "The management board has considered the shareholding and governance structures of [the US company that owns Mattress Firm] and determined that the group lost control of [it] on November 21 2018," said the company. After last year's chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, the US equivalent of SA's business rescue, Steinhoff held only 50.1% of Mattress Firm as creditors got a stake in the company in return for new financing. This deal allowed the company to close more than 600 unprofitable stores. It also contained provisions that could dilute Steinhoff's stake even further as it needed to incentivise, with share options, the management team tasked with turning the loss-making bed retailer around...
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