Successful Steinhoff claimants to receive payouts soon
Investors who suffered losses due to the fraud that caused Steinhoff ’ s share price to drop by more than 90% in 2017, and have submitted successful claims, will receive their payments from May 10.
The retail holding company reached a R24bn cash and Pepkor share settlement in January 2022 with local and European claimants who had filed legal claims exceeding R180bn, arguing they were misled into overpaying for the stock.
Steinhoff lost about R200bn in market value when SA’s biggest corporate fraud was revealed in early December 2017.
The claimants are termed the “market purchase claimants” which refers to institutional investors such as pension funds and retail investors.
They needed to have their claims verified by the Stichting Steinhoff Recovery Foundation (SRF) which was set up to verify and pay claims.
The SRF received more than 43,000 claims, representing about € 3.2bn in value (R58.5bn), and eligible claimants will now receive payments on a rolling basis. Claims do, however, exceed the amount set aside for the compensation, which is estimated to be about R13.5bn.
Shareholders will receive varying amounts, depending on when they purchased the shares.
Anchor Capital CEO Peter Armitage, has estimated they might earn R2-R8 a share (with an average of R5.50), depending on individual circumstances and several other complex factors.
The share was worth R46.50 the day before the news broke that auditor Deloitte would not sign off on the company’s accounts.
Marcel Windt, chair of the SRF, expressed his satisfaction with the progress made, saying “We are extremely pleased to have reached the stage in this process where we are able to distribute payments to eligible claimants.
“The SRF has overseen a thorough process, and I’d like to thank the many parties involved for their contributions along the way, as well as the claimants for their co-operation and patience.”
€3.2bn the value of 43,000 claims that the Stichting Steinhoff Recovery Foundation received