Business magnate Christo Wiese has been forced to scrap a multibillion-rand plan to merge his retail interests, Shoprite and Steinhoff, because key players could not agree on price. Analysts, who generally welcomed the decision, said it appeared that the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) had reconsidered its initial support for the creation of an African retail champion. "The PIC may have decided against the deal because it wasn’t going to get an acceptable price for its Shoprite shares and it is likely other significant Shoprite minority shareholders also expressed their unhappiness," said retail analyst Syd Vianello. Shoprite shareholders were reported to be particularly aggrieved by the prospect that Wiese would use his voting power to push through a deal that deprived them of a premium for the loss of their shares.The collapse in the share prices after the initial announcement in December 2016 is reported to have shaken the two major shareholders, the PIC and Wiese’s Titan Inv...
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