South Africa’s Steinhoff’s and grocery retailer Shoprite have called off a potential deal to create an African retail giant.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement, the two firms said “the fact that the relevant parties could not reach an agreement in respect of the Share Exchange resulted in the negotiations being terminated.”<\/p>\n
As a result both companies saw a notable increase in their respective stock prices with\u00a0Steinhoff’s shares in Johannesburg rising\u00a0more than 7% since the announcement, while Shoprite’s stock jumped more than 6%.<\/p>\n
The deal was the idea of retail magnate Christo Wiese, who owns 16% of Shoprite and 23% of Steinhoff,\u00a0and\u00a0would have given Steinhoff\u00a0a major interest in the R110 billion Shoprite.<\/p>\n
According to the Global Powers of Retailing list published in Janaury 2017,\u00a0Steinhoff International, a manufacturer and retailer of mostly furniture and household goods, is currently the biggest retailer in the country and\u00a072nd in the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n