On February 15, 2022, the overall global settlement reached by Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (Steinhoff, SIHNV) with the many investors worldwide who were harmed as a result of the accounting scandal became effective. This brings to an end a mammoth legal process, including lawsuits in Germany (KapMuG), the Netherlands and South Africa (Class Action). After just over 4 years of litigation and settlement negotiations a total of 1.4 billion euros will now be paid out to investors in several tranches.

Aggrieved shareholders now have the chance to participate in the settlement agreement and receive a payout. However, they must do so quickly: The deadline (bar date) expires on May 15, 2022. Investors can only register their claims until then.

We advise filing claims as soon as possible. This is because investors are obliged to go through an audit and prove their transactions. Those who do not provide proper proof of their claims in a timely manner will not receive any payout.

In principle, all investors who acquired shares in Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (SIHNV) or Steinhoff International Holdings Proprietary Limited (SIHPL) and held them until December 5, 2017 are entitled to claim. Shareholders who invested in SIHNV can expect the largest payouts. Thus, purchases of SIHNV shares (ISIN: NL0011375019) in the period from December 7, 2015 to December 5, 2017 are particularly good.

No, there is no obligation to hire a lawyer. You can file your claims yourself. However, since filing is complex and investors are regularly overwhelmed, we offer aggrieved shareholders the opportunity to file their claims in a legally secure and timely manner for a fee. We are familiar with international settlements and know both the administrators and the usual procedure. We are therefore happy to help you to go through the filing process efficiently and securely, so that you actually get your money back afterwards.

The worldwide 1.4 billion Euro settlement brings global peace to one of the most complex disputes of recent years. Years ago, in December 2017, attorney Maximilian Weiss filed the first shareholder lawsuit against Steinhoff after the accounting scandal and thus simultaneously applied for a model case pursuant to the Capital Markets Model Case Act (KapMuG) against Steinhoff in Germany. Here, in Maximilian Weiss’ commentary, you can read further, why the Steinhoff litigation and the global settlement has been complex and groundbreaking.