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Steinhoff makes rival bid for Darty

South African retail titan Steinhoff is crashing a second agreed takeover, this time between French groups Darty and Fnac
March 2, 2016

It seems Steinhoff can't leave other companies' deals alone. The South African retail giant first grabbed headlines a couple of weeks ago for mounting a rival bid for Home Retail (HOME), a company British supermarket chain Sainsbury's (SBRY) already had in its sights. While the outcome from that tug of war remains far from clear, Conforama - a member company of the Steinhoff conglomerate - has now launched a preliminary counter offer for French electricals retailer Darty (DRTY), pushing the shares up more than 9 per cent. The problem is, Darty already agreed a formal takeover with French retail giant Fnac last September; the transaction was due to complete this summer.

IC TIP: Hold at 126p

Steinhoff's interest might suggest its play for Home Retail - essentially, the Argos brand - has a limited chance of success. Others reckon this is just the company's way of making its global ambitions clear. Interestingly, both Argos and Darty are known for their specialism in electricals - a market that still holds promise if recent trading at Dixons Carphone (DC.) is anything to go by.