Steinhoff rockets almost 30% amid reports of a Pepco takeover bid

Steinhoff's share price jumped 28% on Tuesday following a report of a possible takeover bid for its European retail group, Pepco Group.

Pepco owns the cut-price retailer Pepco, which has more than 1 600 stores in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the UK chain Poundland, which famously sells branded products for a pound, and Dealz, which does business in Ireland, Poland and Spain. 

Sky News reported on Monday that a former owner of Poundland is plotting a takeover deal with two private equity firms, in a transaction that could value Steinhoff's European company at more than €4.5bn (R74 billion)

Advent International, which sold Poundland to Steinhoff a decade ago, is working on the deal with Hellman & Friedman and Mid Europa Partners, Sky News claims.

Steinhoff's share price was trading at 138c by lunchtime on Tuesday, after reaching a low point of 85c last month.

As recently as 2017, Steinhoff was trading at above R65 a share, before revelations of fraudulent accounting wreaked havoc on its share price, cutting its market capitalisation by well over R200bn.