During last week’s parliamentary briefing former Steinhoff International chairman Christo Wiese recounted how confident he was in the Steinhoff management team and board. So confident that in 2015 he sold Pepkor, the group he had built up over 50 years into Steinhoff, in exchange for sufficient shares to ensure he was the largest single shareholder in the group. His original plan had been to consolidate all of his business interests including Shoprite, into Steinhoff. However, Shoprite minority shareholders were having none of it. There was speculation at the time that Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson was also keen to avoid his retail group being poured into the Steinhoff melting pot. But Wiese was determined. Lured by his confidence in the Steinhoff team, a primary listing in Europe and the prospect of being the single largest shareholder in the second largest global furniture retailer, he plugged away at his plan. In 2017, Wiese announced he was selling his Shoprite shares into the Stei...
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