Sonn stars in difficult Steinhoff presentation

The Steinhoff annual general meeting (AGM) was truly a historic piece of corporate governance theatre. Those in attendance who had not suffered the pain of losing money and could afford a detached perspective will certainly have been impressed by Heather Sonn’s chairing.

It represented a master class in how to handle difficult AGMs and will surely be available on DVD in no time.

For most of the meeting’s three hours and 43 minutes Sonn maintained the balance between firm, informative and sympathetic. Without presenting herself as a victim, Sonn did convey the impression she was suffering as much from Markus Jooste’s feral management style as anyone at the AGM.

That might just be the case. Sonn and her two long-standing supervisory board colleagues are trapped at Steinhoff for the foreseeable future. Their only possible escape route was the ignominious option of not securing the 50% of votes needed for reappointment. At about 4pm on Friday that route was closed. They were reappointed.

Sonn’s few comments about the directors who had stuck with Steinhoff were no doubt an indication of how poorly she thought of those who had deserted, most recently Johan van Zyl, and how little she regarded it as an option.

Sonn’s main source of support was Louis du Preez, the newly appointed commercial director. Du Preez, who joined the board midway through 2017, gave comfort that there was little in this complicated mess that he didn’t have a handle on.

But there wasn’t much that could be done to placate the individual shareholders who lost precious millions of their retirement nest egg. PwC’s open-ended investigation was not welcomed by everyone. Some thought Viceroy Research might be more effective. And a lot cheaper.

The potential unbundling of Motus from Imperial Holdings is the latest in a long trend of unbundlings undertaken since the end of apartheid. Bidcorp, PPC, Mpact and a slew of other companies that have come from them have enriched the South African economy, including the retail stock holders.

Now as Imperial seeks to unlock further stakeholder value in both its logistics and automotive units, perhaps the unbundling of Bidvest is the closest comparator.

The Bidvest Group remains, but Bidcorp, the international food services unit and by far the bigger sibling, has had a far bumpier ride than its largely still homebound industrial twin.

Such unbundlings presumably tell a tale about markets and competition within a South African context. The wider world, where many of SA’s top listed companies have ventured, has proved to be a tough place.

Among those who have excelled are packaging maker Mondi, Mpact’s parent.

The reasons are both complex and varied, but being extremely strategic and diversified and holding quality assets can help in most instances.

Bidvest, which is intent on venturing further into the world at large, has just appointed a gaggle of new independent nonexecutive directors, committee members and a lead independent director, Eric Diack, who is also the executive chairman and the de facto CEO of Aveng.

It is an impressive line-up of academic qualifications and real-world experience in food and banking, among other sectors and entities.