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South Africa's Steinhoff raises Darty stake to 20.4 percent

By Tiisetso Motsoeneng

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Steinhoff has increased its stake in Darty to 20.4 percent, it said on Friday, a day after a frantic bidding war with French rival Fnac for Europe's third-largest electric goods retailer.

Five new offers in less than 24 hours lifted Darty shares by more than 23 percent on Thursday to their highest since the end of 2010 and left South African furniture retailer Steinhoff in front with a cash offer of 160 pence a share, valuing Darty at 860 million pounds.

Fnac said on Friday that it is considering its position after Steinhoff's latest offer and urged Darty shareholders to take no action.

The Fnac announcement came shortly after Steinhoff, a 20 billion euro (15.7 billion pounds) company listed in both Johannesburg and Frankfurt, said it had acquired an additional 4.8 million shares in London-listed Darty at 160 pence each.

Shares in Darty were trading at 162.75 pence at 1014 GMT, off an earlier high of 165.50 pence but still suggesting that some investors expect a little more to come from the company's suitors.

Darty earns 70 percent of its revenue in France but has 400 stores across Europe and competes with Media-Saturn, owned by Germany's Metro , and Britain's Dixons .

The company has become a target for different reasons, among which are Fnac's desire to reduce its reliance on sales in areas such as books and CDs.

For Steinhoff, the deal would help it to bulk up in Europe, where it already makes more than two thirds of its 9.8 billion euros of annual sales, as its domestic market deteriorates.

Steinhoff's European brands include Conforama in France, Bensons for Beds and Harvey's in Britain, as well as Abra in Poland.

(Additional reporting by Esha Vaish; Editing by David Goodman)