Steinhoff Losing Credit Lines as Accounting Scandal Deepens
- Retailer tells lenders it didn’t know cash flow of operations
- Magnitude of accounting irregularities still isn’t known
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Embattled furniture retailer Steinhoff International Holdings NV was pushed to the brink of collapse after it said lenders have started to cut off support in the wake of an accounting scandal that destroyed most of its value in a matter of days.
As the owner of Conforama in France and Mattress Firm in the U.S. seeks a lifeline, it’s still unable to assess the magnitude of financial irregularities disclosed two weeks ago, it said in a presentation Tuesday. A makeshift management team made a plea to banks in London after an 85 percent plunge in the share price and the departure of the two men who built the South African company into a would-be rival to Ikea via debt-fueled acquisitions.