Bourse higher as Steinhoff buys US firm

Top movers Graph of the day

FTSE/JSE Africa Index Series

STOCKS ended slightly higher on Monday, with Steinhoff in focus after the retailer announced a surprise $3.8 billion acquisition of a US beds retailer.

The blue chip JSE Top40 index was up 0.28 percent to close at 45 510.65 points and the broader all share index added 0.26 percent to end the session at 52 486.65 points.

Steinhoff, which is also listed in Frankfurt, Germany, said it would pay $64 (about R875) a share to take Mattress Firm, more than double the US biggest bedding retailer’s Friday close.

Shares in

Steinhoff

ended 0.91 percent higher at R89.05.

“While this seems an excessive price, and it is, the Mattress Firm’s stock is trading today at the same price as in January 2012,” said Sasha Naryshkine, a fund manager at Vestact in Johannesburg, which own shares in Steinhoff.

Overall, investors took their cue from an upbeat tone in major overseas markets after US jobs data bolstered expectation of faster growth in the world’s biggest economy.

Meanwhile, trading volumes on the bourse were low on Monday, with about 146 million shares changing hands, or about half of last year’s average trading daily volumes, ahead of yesterday’s public holiday.