The botched deal between Steinhoff and Shoprite will go down in history as the biggest African retail merger that never happened. And if Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste has his way, any plans for a sequel will be put on ice. In December last year, Shoprite and Steinhoff announced plans to merge their retail operations. But less than three months later the deal had fallen through, as minority shareholders believed it would benefit only the group's largest shareholders - the Public Investment Corporation and Titan Investment Holdings, owned by Christo Wiese. Just two months later Steinhoff announced its intention to separately list its African retail operations on the JSE. In an interview this week, Jooste said one reason for the collapse of the Shoprite deal was because "we [Steinhoff] didn't see the opportunity that we were offered in December. We were approached by two of our biggest shareholders to have a look whether it makes sense to put our African businesses into Shoprite. "We had a look at it and decided not to proceed," he said, emphasising that it was not only Shoprite shareholders that did not see the merits. Its plan now to separate its African retail businesses will see key assets, including Pepkor South Africa, JD Group, Unitrans Automotive, Steinbuild, Poco South Africa and Tekkie Town, all listed separately from its UK, US, European and Australasian assets. Splitting off these assets has sparked speculation about another go at a deal between Shoprite and Steinhoff, as commentators believe the value proposition would be more attractive for shareholders. Jooste said a committee had been appointed to look into the details of the listco, "and when I finish my roadshow two weeks from now, they will present me with their propositions and only then will I even have an opinion on that". Referring to talk that a deal between Shoprite and Steinhoff could be reconsidered, he said: "At this stage it would be wrong to speculate about anything of that nature publicly." He added: "Our retail assets will be a separate listing by themselves, for sure." Steinhoff has expanded far beyond its South African roots since its listing 19 years ago. Of the group's revenue, 74% is from its international operations in Europe, US and Australasia, while the remaining 26% is from Africa. Victor Dima, a director at Arqaam Capital, said the listing of Steinhoff's African assets would help crystallise their value. "You have all the African assets, including the South African assets, sitting inside Steinhoff and trading at a multiple of 14 times earnings, and if you do a fair value of the African assets I can see [them] trading on a fair value of 18 times earnings. "This spin-off can unlock significant value for Steinhoff shareholders and also for the new shareholders that would come on board," Dima added. For the six months ended March 31, Steinhoff reported that its African and eastern European assets outperformed the rest of its operations. Total revenue in the African units increased 25% to €522-million (about R7.5-billion), while revenue on a like-for-like basis grew 4%.The group's total revenue rose 48% to €10.2-billion while operating profit rose 13% to €903-million. "Pep, Tekkie Town, Ackermans have outperformed every other retailer in South Africa for the last six months," said Jooste. "Steinhoff's African retail assets are a great business and that's why we want to retain control of that business. There are a lot of investors in the world ... but that money is earmarked for emerging-market companies and that person can have direct access to our African assets."But after the release of the results, the group's share price declined more than 5% to R65.50, the market being disappointed by the international businesses. The price gained 1.65% to R65.80 by the JSE's close on Friday. Steinhoff bought US business Mattress Firm for about $2.4-billion (R31-billion) last year, and incurred $54-million rebranding costs after acquiring the US chain Sleepy's, but the deal has yet to satisfy investors in developed markets. "I don't think people realise what it takes in six months to move 3,500 staff to the US and convert 1,400 stores to a new concept," said Jooste. "The management team and the two families in Steinhoff have got more than 34% of the equity in this company, so we invested all of our personal money in this business. We are not corporate managers, we are entrepreneurs, so we make decisions in Steinhoff for the long term." tshandup@sundaytimes.co.za..