Steinhoff International Holdings NV offered a fresh deal for shareholders to own 20% of the company after a backlash last month.
(Bloomberg) — Steinhoff International Holdings NV offered a fresh deal for shareholders to own 20% of the company after a backlash last month.
The latest plan has two notable differences to its initial debt-relief proposal. Creditors, who will own 80% of the company, will now receive contingent value rights instead of depositary receipts. Equity holders will have the same entitlements, which helps even out the risk.
It may also mean that shareholders who take up the offer become a more consolidated group and stand to get a bigger proportion of anything that’s left. The shares rose 20% to 0.24 rand by 4:40 p.m. in Johannesburg, valuing the company at 1 billion rand ($54 million).
That’s not to say there will be much left, Chief Executive Officer Louis du Preez said at Steinhoff’s annual general meeting on March 23 in Amsterdam.
At the AGM, a German nonprofit that represented about 23% of shareholders, ensured all resolutions were rejected. As a result of the backlash, Steinhoff started a process that allows the company to come to an agreement through the courts, even when all creditors don’t agree. The law, which is only a couple of years old, did not automatically include shareholders.
For the 40% of shareholders who voted in favor of the initial plan, it gives them a chance to get some cover.
Still, Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger, the German nonprofit that led the group voting against the earlier plan, has said they will separately approach German and Dutch courts to get a fair payout.
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