Businessman Jayendra Naidoo announced that his Lancaster Group had laid a R12 billion claim against Steinhoff International Holdings, adding to the existing multibillion-rand barrage of lawsuits against the corrupt multinational
The claim is in the name of Lancaster 101, a special-purpose vehicle debt-funded by the Public Investment Corporation in 2016 to buy shares in Steinhoff equalling 2.75% of the formidable – at the time – JSE-listed group.
The announcement on Thursday came after Steinhoff this week seemingly opened the door for negotiated settlements with shareholders who lost money instead of facing off against them in consolidated class-action lawsuits. “The Company wishes to emphasise that the fact that such requests have been made does not mean that negotiated settlements will eventually be agreed or are imminent.”
At the time Steinhoff was merging African operations and Shoprite to create a new listed company initially called SteinhoffAfrica Retail. After the name Steinhoff became tainted, this company changed its name to Pepkor. The restructuring entailed the 2.75% ownership in Steinhoff falling to 1.2% while Lancaster 102 acquired 8.8% of Pepkor now worth about R5.3 billion.
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