South African-German-Dutch international retail holding company Steinhoff International listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in 1998, transferring to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2015 via a reverse merger. In December 2015, Steinhoff revealed that German authorities had searched its offices in November in connection with tax investigations. In August 2017, a German business magazine reported that German prosecutors were investigating the company’s CEO for suspected accounting fraud which the company denied. This was followed by a Reuters report which said that Steinhoff had not disclosed related party transaction of around US$1bn. In December, Steinhoff announced a delay in publishing its financials. The following day, CEO Markus Jooste resigned and the day after, short-seller Viceroy Research issued a report detailing various fraud allegations. The company's share price collapsed. A March 2019 forensic report found the Steinhoff had overstated profits over several years in a US$7.4bn accounting fraud involving a small group of top executives and outsiders.

Last updated November 2022

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