French lender Natixis and Germany's Commerzbank AG are among a string of lenders de-risking their exposures to troubled South African retailer Steinhoff International Holdings NV, Bloomberg News reported, citing "people familiar with the matter."
Natixis is auctioning at least €150 million of debt owed by Steinhoff, the report said. The sale makes up a portion of Steinhoff's €2.9 billion revolving credit facility and a part of a $2.2 billion U.S. term loan, according to Bloomberg.
The Natixis auction follows Commerzbank's sale of a €200 million block from the revolving credit facility late in January, the sources added.
Steinhoff in December 2017 disclosed that it was investigating possible accounting irregularities in the company.
