Steinhoff era draws to an end as shareholders vote to dissolve and delist the company

The once mighty Steinhoff International Holdings, which held the country’s most valuable listed companies, has finally drawn to a close.

The company’s shareholders voted overwhelmingly to dissolve the shell of the scandal-hit global retailer during a hybrid extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday in Amsterdam.

Steinhoff will be dissolved and delisted from trade in Johannesburg and Frankfort stock exchanges.

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Dutch court sealed Steinhoff’s fate

The vote follows a Dutch court order to switch from a shareholder-owned publicly listed company owned to a delisted group under the control of its creditors. 

The fall of the German and South African-based furniture retail giant, which held over 40 local brands in more than 30 countries, will go down in history as the biggest fraud scandal to hit the country in 2017.

Accounting irregularities dating back to 2015 were uncovered in 2017 during an auditing probe triggered by accounting firm Deloitte’s refusal to sign off on accounting statements.

Deliotte was Steinhoff’s auditing firm at the time.

The company’s former CEO, Markus Jooste, underwhich the accounting irregularities took place, is yet to be arrested, let alone convicted of any financial crimes. A German court has issued a warrant for his arrest.

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Disolution should have happened sooner

According to Moneyweb, Steinhoff initally sought to stay afloat by selling some of its prize assets and shares in its subsidiaries but its borrowings kept growing.

“It’s an absolute disgrace,” said David Shapiro, deputy chairman of Sasfin Securities in Johannesburg.

“Anyone could have seen this company was never going to survive and it would have been better for shareholders if it had been dissolved in late 2017,” added Shapiro.

Steinhoff is expected to announce a date for its shares to stop trading. The stock is already near worthless, trading at just 7c a share on the JSE, having once fetched more than R90.

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