Steinhoff Sells Private Jet to Broker Avpro as Cash Runs Low
Steinhoff Transfers Private Jet to Broker Avpro as Cash Runs Low
(Bloomberg) -- Steinhoff International Holdings NV, the global retailer fighting to recover from an accounting scandal, sold its luxury Gulfstream 550 private jet to a U.S. aircraft broker as it seeks to boost liquidity.
The plane, with serial number 5113, was registered to Annapolis, Maryland-based Avpro Inc. on Jan. 12, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s online records. The luxuriously appointed 2006 Gulfstream has been valued at almost $25 million and was bought by Steinhoff in April. It’s capable of 12-hour non-stop flights and is certified for 16 passengers.
A spokeswoman for Steinhoff confirmed the sale. She declined to comment on the price of the deal, citing a confidentiality clause.
Steinhoff put the plane up for sale shortly after the owner of Mattress Firm in the U.S. and Poundland in the U.K. announced last month that it had uncovered accounting irregularities that knocked almost 90 percent off its share price. The aircraft was advertised for $24.8 million in 2016 and the sale brochure showed the interior fitted out in cream-colored leather seating, wood paneling and a marble-and-brass bathroom.
Avpro hasn’t yet listed the jet for re-sale, according to the records on its website. The transfer of the aircraft comes at the same time that Steinhoff’s ex-Chief Executive Officer Markus Jooste is trying to sell a sprawling Western Cape residence with vineyards and space for 10 horses for 15 million rand ($1.2 million), 43 percent more than he paid for it two years ago.
A call and emails to Avpro in the U.S. weren’t answered outside business hours.
--With assistance from Loni Prinsloo and Janice Kew
To contact the reporter on this story: Renee Bonorchis in Johannesburg at rbonorchis@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stefania Bianchi at sbianchi10@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, John Viljoen
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