Steinhoff is back on the acquisition trail, this time considering an offer for Poundland after losing out on both Argos and Darty.

The board of Steinhoff has confirmed it is considering an offer for the entire issued share capital of value retailer Poundland.

Poundland

Poundland

 

The South African retail group, which placed a bid for Home Retail’s Argos earlier this year but lost out to Sainsbury’s, has noted Poundland’s recent share price movement and has until July 13 to either confirm a firm intention to make an offer for Poundland, or disclose that it does not intend to make an offer.

Poundland has noted Steinhoff’s possible offer for the company and has advised shareholders to not take any action.

Steinhoff said that a further announcement will be made when appropriate in due course.

Steinhoff-owned Conforama was recently engaged in a bidding war with Fnac for London-listed electricals retailer Darty. Conforama was trumped by Fnac, which tabled an offer of 170p per share for Darty, equivalent to £914m.

Last month, the board of Darty recommended that shareholders approve a takeover offer from French retailer Fnac and withdrew its previous recommendation of the Conforama offer.

Poundland reported a sales increase of 29.5% in the 13 weeks to March 27, driven by the addition of 99p Stores to the retailer’s estate.