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Settlement Agreement Finalized and Claims Filing Process Open

On February 15, 2022, the global settlement agreement reached between the Stichting Steinhoff International Compensation Claims (SSICC), several other claimant groups, the boards of directors of Steinhoff International Holdings Proprietary Limited (SIHPL), and Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (SIHNV) (collectively, the “Steinhoff Group”), as well as the Steinhoff Group’s auditors Deloitte Accountants B.V. and Deloitte & Touche South Africa (collectively, “Deloitte”), and certain insurance companies underwriting Steinhoff’s (primary and excess) Directors & Officers insurance policies (the “D&O Insurers”) became effective.

As part of the global settlement, the Steinhoff Group has agreed to contribute a sum of EUR 442 million to the settlement fund for all eligible market purchaser claimants and an additional EUR 188 million for SIHPL market purchaser claimants. In addition, Deloitte will contribute EUR 70.34 million to the settlement fund, of which, EUR 55.34 million will be ring-fenced for eligible market purchaser claimants. Similarly, the D&O Insurers will contribute EUR 70.5 million to the settlement fund, of which EUR 55.5 million will be ring-fenced for eligible market purchaser claimants.

The Bar Date, which is the deadline by which claimants must file their claims is May 15, 2022, at 11:59:59 SAST.  Steinhoff has appointed Computershare as claims administrator to assist with the further administration of claims and the settlement and payment process.  It is anticipated that Computershare will begin paying valid claims near the end of 2022.

The Foundation’s Purpose

Stichting Steinhoff International Compensation Claims (“Foundation”) has been established as a foundation under Article 3:305a of the Dutch Civil Code (“DCC”) in an initiative of institutional investors seeking a comprehensive, cross-jurisdictional recovery of losses suffered as a result of investments in various Steinhoff securities over the Relevant Period.

Investors (including nominee shareholder/custodians) are encouraged to join the Foundation, if they have purchased substantial amounts of any of the following Steinhoff securities (Stock: NL0011375019, ZAE000068367, ZAE000247995, ZAE000016176.) during the Relevant Period from June 26, 2013 to February, 28 2018 and either sold these after the various disclosures over the Relevant Period and thereafter or are holding those until now.

About Steinhoff

Steinhoff International Holdings Limited (“SIHL”) is a South African company which until December 7, 2015 was the holding company for more than 40 retail brands in over 30 countries, including MatressFirm in the United States, Poundland in England as well as Poco in Germany. It has been listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange since 1999 as SIHL but since December 7, 2015, it has its primary listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (“SIHNV”), which became the Dutch holding company for the Steinhoff retail empire. Despite the legal company change, Steinhoff has maintained its headquarters and tax residence in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and most employees still work there under the new legal structure. Most of Steinhoff’s current and former directors are also residents of South Africa.

Steinhoff’s Accounting Irregularities

Since at least June 26, 2013, Steinhoff and its management, with the help of Deloitte South Africa, has been misinforming its investors about the true value of its assets, certain illegal off balance sheet transactions and the overall financial transparency of its business transactions, thereby depriving investors of the ability to properly value the affected Steinhoff securities and inflating their values. In June 2014, Steinhoff informed the public that it was planning to restructure itself to access European capital markets, but kept its improper accounting practices a secret and even denied various suspicions of accounting irregularities between December 2015 and December 2017 (including rumors about criminal investigations and improper accounting in December 2015, August 2017, September 2017 and November 2017).

On December 5, 2017, Steinhoff finally started to disclose its accounting problems and until February 28, 2018 has disclosed various details about improper asset valuations, insider dealings and off-balance sheet transactions, which have led to the delay in the publication of its 2017 financial results and the acknowledgment that it will have to restate at least its 2015 and 2016 financial statements, likely also 2014.

With the December 5, 2017 surprise disclosure which shocked the markets, long-standing CEO Markus Jooste announced that he was leaving the company with immediate effect.

Both news caused a dramatic decrease in the value of Steinhoff equity. Particularly, the Steinhoff stock price dropped from €3.10 on December 5 to €0.47 on December 8, 2017, a decrease of almost 85%, eliminating more than €10 billion of Steinhoff’s market value. Moreover, as of December 14, 2017, Steinhoff had outstanding liabilities of €10.7 billion, causing market concerns about its financial viability considering that €2 billion of debt was to mature in 2018. In the meantime, Steinhoff has raised over €2 billion in capital from the sale of certain assets and has been negotiating with its creditors to renegotiate terms of its debt obligations. As of March 19, 2018, Steinhoff also considered selling other assets to shore up further funds to redeem certain convertible bonds and to have cash for operational needs.

On January 2, 2018, Steinhoff announced that its 2017 accounts would be accompanied by restated financials for 2015 and 2016, and that its previous figures for those years can “no longer be relied upon.”

On February 19, 2018, the Dutch Enterprise Chamber ordered that Steinhoff must restate its financial statements for extended book year 2015-2016 because of the inclusion of the value of certain assets belonging to a former business partner.

On August 8, 2018, LHL ATTORNEYS INC., the leading South African class action and investor protection law firm, initiated a class action proceeding against Steinhoff and other defendants in Johannesburg, South Africa. The class action encompassed all investors that purchased Steinhoff shares during the relevant period, either at Johannesburg or at Frankfurt.

The class action was complemented by a Dutch Foundation complaint filed in Amsterdam on October 29, 2018 and a complaint filed in Frankfurt on December 19, 2017, which included an application for the start of a model procedure under the German Capital Market Investors’ Model Proceeding Act (KapMuG). As part of the global settlement, these actions will now be dismissed.