Jooste ditches property

VAL DE VIE PLOT ON SALE: FORMER STEINHOFF CEO SELLS AT R4.5M MARKUP

People connected to beleaguered company trying to raise cash.

Steinhoff International’s former CEO Markus Jooste has put a plot on a luxury estate up for sale, asking R4.5 million more for the property than the embattled businessperson paid for it two years ago.

Jooste bought 978 at Val de Vie, a sprawling Western Cape residence with vineyards and space for 10 horses, for R10.5 million and is trying to sell it for R15 million, according to the Val de Vie’s interactive sales map. He bought the property in December 2015, the same month the global retailer moved its main listing to Frankfurt from Johannesburg, the state registry shows.

The sale indicates that Jooste is trying to raise cash following his resignation from Steinhoff at the start of an accounting scandal six weeks ago. Mayfair Speculators, of which he was until recently a director, sold champion racehorse Legal Eagle last month, according to Sporting Post.

Steinhoff shares have lost almost 90% of their value since the owner of Mattress Firm in the US and Conforama in France said on December 5 it had uncovered accounting irregularities. Billionaire chairperson Christo Wiese has quit alongside Jooste and the company has been in emergency talks with lenders to continue operating. Neither have spoken publicly about what went wrong.

“It must be a liquidity issue,” Petri Redelinghuys, founder of Herenya Capital Advisors, said. “You need to have that liquidity, whether it be for the business, or for legal fees.”

Jooste isn’t the only one frantically trying to raise cash.

Wiese, Steinhoff’s largest shareholder, has seen his net worth cut by more than half and has had to sell shares in another company he’s linked to for R4.2 billion. Steinhoff has sold a stake in South African investment holding company PSG Group, raising about $345 million, while other disposals included a 17% stake in French online retailer Showroomprive and a flagship store in Vienna for a combined €139 million. The company’s luxury Gulfstream 550 jet, valued at about $25 million, has also been put up for sale. – Bloomberg