South African Steinhoff International has sold its Kika/Leiner assets to the SIGNA real estate group.

It is believed the sale assets comprise of the Kika/Leiner operating companies as well as the property holding companies.

The consideration for the operating companies was noted to be “nominal”, while the property companies were based on an agreed enterprise value of €490 million; or approximately $770 million.

Steinhoff CEO Danie van der Merwe explained in a release that liquidity constraints for the Kika/Leiner businesses “would have placed significant further cash demands on the wider Steinhoff Group given the businesses are both loss-making and require significant investment to implement the turnaround.”

“SIGNA has prior restructuring experience in the retail sector… and as such offers the Kika/Leiner business… the support required at this time.”

Kika is positioned as a “trendsetter for modern ideas in the home”, while Leiner offers personalised furnishings of the “highest quality” and has existed for more than 100 years.

The sale comes at a difficult time for Steinhoff International, having come under investigation for possible fraud over the lodging of inaccurate financial records leaving up to $9.2 billion missing.

Steinhoff Asia Pacific recently trademarked ‘Greenlit’ as a potential name change in an effort to distance itself from its troubled parent company.