Markus Jooste hits a hurdle in sale of Rascals owner
Minority shareholders in sweets and cold-drink group Lodestone Brands are against selling it at auction
The investment company of former Steinhoff International Holdings CEO Markus Jooste is locked in a battle over a sweets and drinks maker it is trying to sell to repay defaulted debt. Minority shareholders of Lodestone Brands are trying to block Jooste’s Mayfair Holdings from selling the producer of Rascals sweets and Fusion soft drinks, according to documents filed in the Johannesburg High Court in March. Mayfair hired Standard Bank to auction the company, in which it holds a controlling stake, the filings show. The legal challenge comes as Mayfair faces a year-end deadline to dispose of assets so it can repay bank debt of R959m. The loans were backed by Steinhoff shares, which collapsed after the retailer announced an investigation into a hole in its accounts in December, which resulted in Jooste quitting on the same day. Executives at the owner of Conforama in France and Mattress Firm in the US are battling to keep more than 12,000 stores in 30 countries in operation as they seek ...
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