DGAP-News: Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. : Decision of the Amsterdam District Court on Steinhoff's preliminary defences in proceedings filed by the VEB against Steinhoff

STEINHOFF - Decision of the Amsterdam District Court on Steinhoff's preliminary defences in proceedings filed by the VEB against Steinhoff

Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (the "Company" and with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

The Amsterdam District Court (the "Amsterdam Court") today issued its decision (the "Decision") in respect of Steinhoff's preliminary defences raised in the proceedings (the "Proceedings") brought by the Vereniging van Effectenbezitters (the "VEB"), the Dutch Investors' Association, earlier this year.

Background

The Proceedings are a Dutch collective action under Section 3:305a of the Dutch Civil Code ("DCC"), initiated by the VEB on behalf of shareholders of the Company that bought or held their shares during a certain period and which the VEB claims to represent. In these Proceedings, the VEB submitted several claims for declaratory relief in relation to alleged damage suffered by those shareholders due to their investment in the Company.

The Company raised a number of preliminary defences including a motion contesting jurisdiction of the Amsterdam Court on the basis of parallel proceedings against the Company before the Landgericht Frankfurt in Germany initiated by a German individual. The Company has also submitted a motion for inadmissibility of VEB's claims, a request for leave to initiate contribution proceedings against Markus Jooste and a request to adjourn the Proceedings.

The Decision

The Amsterdam Court in its Decision has granted the Company's request to summons Mr Jooste in contribution proceedings ultimately within 3 months after today. The Company's motions on jurisdiction and inadmissibility as well as the Company's request to adjourn the Proceedings were dismissed. The Court has set the date of 7 November 2018 for submission of the Company's statement of defence on the merits.

The Decision is available (in Dutch) on the website: https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/inziendocument?id=ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2018:6840&showbutton=true

The Company is in the process of studying the Decision (including whether it provides grounds for appeal).

Shareholders and other investors in the Company are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the securities of the Group.

Stellenbosch, 26 September 2018