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Steinhoff to Meet With Lenders May 18 in London to Discuss Debt

Steinhoff to Meet With Lenders May 18 in London to Discuss Debt

(Bloomberg) -- Steinhoff International Holdings NV will face up to lenders in London next week to discuss a plan to reorganize 10.4 billion euros ($12.5 billion) of debt, a meeting that could prove critical to the future of the retailer weighed down by an accounting crisis.

The owner of Conforama in France and Mattress Firm in the U.S. will hold the meeting in private on May 18, a spokeswoman said in an emailed response to questions Thursday. While Steinhoff has sold off assets to shore up its balance sheet and buy time from creditors, that strategy is unsustainable with debt levels so high, the company told investors last month.

Steinhoff shares have plunged more than 95 percent since reporting a hole in its accounts in December, valuing the business at about 584 million euros.

To contact the reporter on this story: Janice Kew in Johannesburg at jkew4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John Bowker

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