Steinhoff has settled a lawsuit relating to a former business partner of Marcus Jooste and European retailer Conforama, which it sold in 2020, reports BusinessLIVE.

The settlement is worth €202.12m.

The 2022 annual report shows that €203m had been set aside for this lawsuit, following ongoing negotiations. Steinhoff said it had reached a settlement with the firm LWS on Monday to end all outstanding litigation between the parties.

The settlement was concluded before the Commercial Court of Vienna and is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, including lender’s consent.

The conflict relates to a long-running battle with Austrian businessperson Andreas Seifert who entered into a business partnership with former Steinhoff CEO Marcus Jooste in 2007.

The pair bought French furniture company Conforama in 2011 and then Austrian furniture group Kika/Leiner in 2013.

In 2014, Seifert and Jooste fell out and the partnership ended.

In 2019, it emerged a firm linked to Seifert called LWS said it was a creditor of Steinhoff Europe and was owed about R4.9bn.

It challenged a restructuring of Steinhoff Europe's debt in the Austrian courts.

The settlement concluded on Monday was with LWS. In 2022, Steinhoff settled with more than 8 000 claimants, who had filed claims worth R184bn in relation to being misled by the firm and buying worthless stock.

It paid out R24bn in cash and Pepkor shares.

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