Steinhoff suit gets SA nod
SA asset managers have thrown their weight behind the class-action suit being instituted against Steinhoff by Dutch law firm BarentsKrans.
The institutions encouraging clients to participate in the BarentsKrans case include Abax Investments, Allan Gray, Bateleur Capital, Coronation, Denker, Electus, the Eskom Pension Fund, Investec Asset Management, Investec Wealth & Investment, Momentum, Old Mutual, Sanlam, Tantalum Capital, Truffle and Visio Capital.
This collective represented about 20% of the total shareholding in Steinhoff when its share price collapsed.
Abax Investments Director Anthony Sedgwick explains: “The case will be conducted through a special vehicle known as Hamilton 2 B.V which has been established in the Netherlands by Claims Funding Europe especially for the BarentsKrans Steinhoff case.
“This is a more efficient way of conducting large scale litigation than having a multitude of individual claimants having their cases run and determined by the same court at the same time.”
In January, the law firm announced the start of legal proceedings on behalf of Steinhoff investors. It asked that investors who had acquired Steinhoff shares between June 2013 and December 6 2017 register online to participate.
As Steinhoff’s shareholders seek to pursue claims on behalf of their clients and funds that suffered losses because of Steinhoff’s share price collapse, SA institutions have taken on a new route – informing their clients that the “class action” case being run in the Netherlands by BarentsKrans is their preferred legal route.
Meanwhile, the case presents jurisdictional complexities given Steinhoff’s cross-listings.
Jan-Willem de Jong, senior associate at BarentsKrans says: “There are various angles to the case, which is indeed more complex than other cases.
“Steinhoff is a Dutch company registered in the Netherlands and there is a clear anchor to bring the case to the Netherlands. The Dutch courts are used to situations where they have to deal with foreign law.”
Earlier reports indicated that BarentsKrans’ legal proceedings weren’t limited to Steinhoff.
“It is also going to involve culpable directors and certainly we are also looking into the position of Deloitte as being the auditor for the Dutch company,” De Jong adds.
Moneyweb
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