Steinhoff vows to defend global deal against Tekkie Town owners

Steinhoff has vowed to oppose the court application by former owners of discount retail company Tekkie Town to liquidate the company, saying it would “vigorously defend” its proposed global settlement.

Business Day reported on Wednesday that the former owners of Tekkie Town, which Steinhoff acquired in 2016, have launched the court bid. It comes at a time when the global furniture company is cleaning up its image and balance sheet after revelations of a R100bn-plus accounting fraud in 2017.

Steinhoff has proposed $1bn (R14.1bn) to settle legal claims worth more than R130bn from shareholders who sued saying they had been duped into buying worthless shares.

Steinhoff said in a statement on Thursday it would defend any attempt to disrupt the proposed global settlement and the continued suspension of payments procedure in the Netherlands.

“The global settlement proposal currently under consideration by the Dutch court incorporates provisions to address the disputed claims of the Tekkie Town claimants against the company which relate to transactions between the Tekkie Town claimants and the company in 2016,” Steinhoff said.

The company has said that the global settlement — which it insists does not constitute an admission of liability by the group, its directors or employees — is meant to resolve as many claims as possible.

Braam van Huyssteen, founder of Tekkie Town, and former CEO Bernard Mostert and other entities representing former executives and shareholders are bringing the application as “contingent or prospective creditors” of the company and on the grounds that Steinhoff is “unable to pay its debts [and] its liabilities exceed its assets by such a margin that it has lost more than 75% of its share capital”. In the application, filed on May 12, they requested that the matter be heard on an urgent basis on May 24.

Steinhoff shares were up 0.52% to R1.94 on Thursday.