Finance

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Steinhoff International Holdings NV won support from a majority of creditors to restructure its 9.4 billion euros ($11 billion) of debt, seen by the embattled retailer as a vital step toward its recovery from an accounting scandal. The owner of Conforama in France and Mattress Firm in the U.S. sought a three-year extension to payments due to lenders and bondholders as the South African company repairs its balance sheet. About…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s tax agency is investigating local billionaire Christo Wiese and former executives at law firm ENSafrica for their role in obstructing the collection of 3.7 billion rand ($279 million) in taxes, according to a report in the Financial Mail. ENSafrica created a tax structure to help pan-African crude-oil explorer Tullow Oil Plc shift assets valued at 3.9 billion rand out of the country, dodging taxes in the process, the Johannesburg-based…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd.’s sale of its Cyprus unit is just the start of a broader exit from small or problematic markets, with the Liberian unit leading a number of West African divisions being considered for disposal, according to people familiar with the matter. Africa’s largest mobile-phone company by subscribers sees the Liberia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau businesses as ones it could do without, said two of the people, who asked…

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – When Ivory Coast put out a tender to build a bridge over the lagoon in its commercial hub of Abidjan, 10 out of the 18 companies that expressed interest were either Chinese firms or in partnership with them. China State Construction Engineering Corp. won the contract in May. The 109 billion CFA francs ($191 million) deal highlighted China’s growing muscle in a part of Africa that until recently its…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Lundin Mining Corp.’s effort to acquire Nevsun Resources Ltd.went hostile with a plan to make a C$1.4 billion ($1.1 billion) all-cash offer for the owner of the prized Timok copper-gold deposit in Serbia after its previous attempts were spurned. Lundin said Monday in a statement it will offer C$4.75 a share, representing a premium of about 13 percent to Monday’s closing price. The Toronto-based miner controlled by Swedish-Canadian billionaire Lukas Lundin intends to commence…