Steinhoff Africa Is Said to Fail to Attract Remgro Interest
Steinhoff Africa Is Said to Fail to Attract Interest From Remgro
(Bloomberg) -- Steinhoff Africa Retail Ltd. may have to eliminate billionaire Johann Rupert’s Remgro Ltd. from a list of potential new investors as it seeks to distance the retailer from its scandal-hit parent, according to people familiar with the matter.
STAR, as Steinhoff Africa is known, asked Stellenbosch-based Remgro for a meeting about whether it would be interested in taking a stake, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. Remgro is unlikely to proceed, they said. Remgro’s investments include hospital company Mediclinic International Ltd. and wine and spirits producer Distell Group Ltd.
Management of STAR engages with many investors and the nature of the discussions don’t require a stock-exchange statement, a spokeswoman said in an emailed response to questions. Remgro declined to comment.
Last week, STAR said it will revert to the name Pepkor Holdings Ltd. to separate itself from Steinhoff International Holdings NV, which in December reported accounting wrongdoing that wiped more than 95 percent off its market value. Steinhoff bought Pepkor for $5.7 billion in 2015 before spinning off most of it as STAR three years later. It holds a 71 percent stake in the Cape Town-based clothing retailer.
STAR’s stock snapped two days of declines, advancing 4.8 percent to 17.56 rand and valuing the clothing retailer at 60.4 billion rand ($4.8 billion). The meeting between STAR and Remgro was earlier reported by Johannesburg-based newspaper Business Day.
To contact the reporters on this story: Janice Kew in Johannesburg at jkew4@bloomberg.net;Loni Prinsloo in Johannesburg at lprinsloo3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, Antony Sguazzin
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