The Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) will have to wait a little longer before it starts receiving its settlement payout from funds invested in troubled Steinhoff International Holdings.
The GIPF, through various asset managers had invested N$677,5 million in the South African-based global retail holding company, which experienced a dramatic share price collapse in 2017.
Although the state-owned pension fund has so far only recovered N$326 million as of March 2022, reports from South Africa indicate that the rest of the payouts can only come next year.
The Stichting Steinhoff Recovery Foundation, an independent body established to assess settlement claims, this week announced that the N$25.5 billion (US$1.62 billion) in payouts would only begin in early 2023.
The foundation, however, said it has so far received over 43,000 claims and is in the process of verifying claims totaling N$53.5 billion (US$3.4 billion), an amount that exceeds the N$23.8 billion ($1.51 billion) set aside by Steinhoff for the settlement.
Following the revelation by the oundation, it is not clear if the GIPF would be able to recover the remaining N$351 million in full considering the high claims ratio.
The Fund has filed a N$729 million claim against Steinhoff, with the outcome expected to determine whether or not GIPF will recover the invested funds.
Steinhoff Holdings International – a global retailer with more than 40 brands including Ackermans, Buco, Dunns, Flash, HiFi Corp, Incredible Connection, John Craig, Pennypinchers, Pep, Refinery, Russels, Shoe City, Tekkie Town, Timbercity and Unitrans among others – has over the past two years struggled to starve off disgruntled investors.
Former Steinhoff Chairperson and billionaire, Christo Wiese, has received cash and a Pepkor stake worth more than R7 billion from Steinhoff as part of a settlement.
This was after Wiese had put in a US$4 billion (R60 billion) claim with Steinhoff for his losses, but as part of the settlement, agreed to much less.
Retail investors who submitted claims to Steinhoff can expect to get payouts of between R2 and R8 a share according to South African media.
