Steinhoff Asia Pacific Group Holdings has adopted a new name - Greenlit Brands - and secured a new multi-year financing package.
The move comes as its global parent company, Steinhoff International, weathers legal and financial woes over a highly-publicised accounting scandal.
Greenlit Brands will continue to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Steinhoff International.
No decision has been made concerning the separation from ownership by Steinhoff International and the Group said it will "continue to carefully and methodically consider the various options in due course."
Greenlit Brands operates a number of homewares and apparel retailers, including Harris Scarfe, Postie and Best & Less. It is also the local operator for Debenhams.
The company employs more than 10,000 people with 640 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
The Greenlit Brands new name and logo were developed from within the Group and selected following a group-wide voting process.
Greenlit Brands Group CEO, Michael Ford welcomed the change.
“We have great brands which all originate in Australasia, that are loved by Australian and New Zealand consumers. Our retail brands cover the good, better and best spectrum in the household and general merchandise sectors.
"We also have our own manufacturing, logistics and supply chain operations which provide support to our retail brands. We look forward to building on this portfolio for our customers under the Greenlit Brands corporate identity.”
Refinancing Package
Greenlit Brands has secured a new financing package with a syndicate of three Australian-based banks comprising ANZ, NAB and Deutsche Bank.
The package includes a Senior Facility of A$256m with a tenor through to October 2020.
Greenlit Brands’ existing intergroup debt with entities of Steinhoff International Holdings NV (‘Steinhoff International’) has been subordinated to the Senior Facilities with longer tenor than bank debt, and existing parent company guarantees under the former local banking facilities have now been released.
The refinancing package underlines that Greenlit Brands operates independently from its parent group, Steinhoff International, in terms of its working capital requirements and debt funding needs.
Greenlit Brands CFO Michael Gordon said the package is essential to operations.
“Putting in place longer term funding arrangements for Greenlit Brands is a major step forward for our Group.
“We are pleased to have secured the longer term for our bank facilities with our local banking partners, which has been struck on normal commercial terms and interest rates.
“This important initiative provides our 10,000 employees, our suppliers and our business partners across all of our respective brands with certainty about the Group and is indicative of the strength and independence of our Group in Australasia,” he said.
Greenlit Brands Pty Limited – Key Statistics
Total Group Revenue (unaudited 9 months to 30 June 2018) = AUD 1.5 bn
Household Goods Division Revenue (unaudited 9 months to 30 June 2018) = AUD 728.6m
General Merchandise Division Revenue (unaudited 9 months to 30 June 2018) = AUD 770.7m
Total number of Employees in Australia and New Zealand = 10,000
Total Number of Retail Stores in Australia and New Zealand = 640
Total Number of Manufacturing sites = 8 factories across Australia, China and Vietnam