Dutch support Steinhoff offer
• All claimants voted to support the proposal, which must now go before a Dutch court on September 16
All Dutch voters have given the Steinhoff settlement that aims to end litigation against it a vote of approval, the retailer says. Steinhoff, which almost collapsed in SA’s biggest accounting fraud, faces more than 100 legal claims totalling about R130bn from shareholders who say they were duped into buying a worthless stock.
All Dutch voters have given the Steinhoff settlement that aims to end litigation against it a vote of approval, the retailer said on Wednesday.
Steinhoff, which almost collapsed in SA’s biggest accounting fraud, faces more than 100 legal claims totalling about R130bn from shareholders who say they were duped into buying a worthless stock through misleading information. The company’s value plunged about R200bn after the fraud was exposed in December 2017.
Facing bankruptcy from the sheer volumes of claims, Steinhoff offered a settlement of €1.42bn (about R24bn) in August up from €943m in July 2020, hoping to end the court action.
Those who vote in favour of the settlement payout have to withdraw all legal claims against the company.
Votes for the financial settlement by various groups of SA claimants began on Monday, with the Dutch vote taking place on Wednesday. Steinhoff is registered in the Netherlands.
The claimants who had filed claims against Steinhoff in the Netherlands were represented by 15 individuals termed a “committee of representation” and all voted to support the settlement. The vote required a 75% majority and the settlement must now go before a Dutch court on September 16.
CLASSES OF VOTERS
Three classes of voters are needed to vote to approve the South African settlement. These are contractual claimants such as former chair Christo Wiese, who sold his company in exchange for Steinhoff shares; financial claimants such as banks; and market purchase claimants, which represent institutional investors and ordinary shareholders.
More than the required 75% of the financial claimants and the market purchase claimants voted in favour of the settlement on Monday. The final vote will take place on Thursday and Wiese has signalled his support and said that most of the other contractual claimants that he is aware of are also in favour of the settlement.
Closing the chapter on litigation claims will enable Steinhoff to focus attention on its mountain of debt that exceeds €9bn.
While Steinhoff’s share price has more than doubled in the past month, signalling market optimism that its proposed global settlement offer will pass, the threat of liquidation has not disappeared, and the shares fell earlier this week when a judge ruled that a case by former owners of shoe retailer Tekkie Town to have the company wound up can go ahead.
Bernard Mostert and Braam van Huysteen sold Tekkie Town for shares worth R1.8bn that lost most of their value months later. The main part of the liquidation case starts on Thursday in the high court in Cape Town, where Steinhoff will seek a postponement.