Steinhoff International to acquire kika and Leiner

Steinhoff International (SHF) said on Wednesday, 26 June 2013, that agreements had been concluded‚ which if implemented‚ and subject to certain conditions precedent‚ would result in Steinhoff Europe or its nominee acquiring the entire issued share capital of the kika and Leiner groups of companies.

The kika-Leiner Group is one of the leading furniture retail companies in Europe‚ with 7‚500 employees‚ shops in 73 locations‚ 50 of which are in Austria with the remainder of the locations in Central and Eastern Europe‚ and yearly net sales of about €1.2bn.

kika-Leiner was founded 105 years ago in Austria by the Leiner and Koch families.

Steinhoff said that kika-Leiner fit the group's geographical footprint as Steinhoff's retail operations in Europe did not have a footprint in Austria and had limited presence in Central and Eastern Europe.

"kika-Leiner was built on solid foundations and‚ as with the rest of the Steinhoff Group‚ has secured its future via the ownership of its owned properties‚ strong local brands and focus on maximising value to the end consumer. It is also envisaged that significant benefits will flow to both groups from collective sourcing and logistics operations and other cross platform improvement strategies‚" it said.

At 2pm on the JSE‚ Steinhoff's share price was up 0.75% at R24.28.