• Steinhoff offer of $2.4bn accepted
  • Mattress Firm Holdings has 3,500 stores under Sleepy’s and Mattress Firm brands
  • Steinhoff already owns Bensons for Beds and Conforama

South African retail giant Steinhoff has agreed to acquire America’s biggest bedding retailer, adding 3,500 stores to its worldwide network.

Steinhoff revealed it has “entered into a definitive merger agreement” to buy Mattress Firm Holding in a $2.4bn deal.

The bid for the firm, which also owns the Sleepy’s fascia, would see stakeholders receive $64 per share, a 115% premium on Mattress Firm’s Friday closing price of $29.74 on the Nasdaq.

Mattress Firm has had a turbulent time of late, losing more than half its value over the past year. It has been acquisitive, purchasing rival Sleepy’s in February, but this expansion has seen costs spiral. It warned in June that it expected a loss for its financial year.

Steinhoff, which has recently come under pressure to raise its bid for Poundland, already owns Bensons for Beds and Conforama.

The conglomerate’s chief executive Markus Jooste said: “The boards of Steinhoffand its management team are enthusiastic about the opportunities this transaction creates.

“This transaction will allow Steinhoff to not only enter the US market with an industry leading partner and a national supply chain, but it will also expand Steinhoff’s global market reach in the core product category of mattresses.

Jooste hinted that Steinhoff would retain Mattress Firm’s existing management team, which he lauded as “experienced and entrepreneurial,” with “a proven  track record of delivering growth, profitability and leadership in the US retail mattress market.”

Steinhoff said it intends to finance the acquisition through a combination of bank and bridge loans.

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