<p>South African tycoon  resigned on Thursday as chairman of Steinhoff (<span id="“symbol_SNHG.DE_0”"><a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=SNHG.DE">SNHG.DE</a></span>), the latest setback for the retail group in the throes of an accounting scandal.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-42987 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/steinhoff_international_logo.jpg" alt="" width="1063" height="650" /></p>
<p>Once a must-have for investors who backed its reinvention from small furniture outfit into a retail empire, Steinhoff has seen its shares crash more than 80 percent since last week when it ordered an investigation into its accounts and parted ways with long-serving chief executive Markus Jooste.</p>
<p>Steinhoff said Wiese, its top shareholder and chairman who stood in as chief executive last week, had offered to step down to reinforce independent governance and address any possible conflict of interest.</p>
<p>Wiese has been chairman since last year and a board member since 2013. He owns about 22 percent of the company, the stake he built in 2014 when he sold his clothing retailer Pepkor to Steinhoff via a combination of cash and shares.</p>
<p>Steinhoff named Heather Sonn, a member of the supervisory board and its independent sub-committee, as acting chairperson, and said Wiese’s son Jacob had also resigned from the board.</p>
<p>The accounting scandal has tarnished the 76-year-old’s credentials as one of South Africa’s most respected stewards of shareholder capital.</p>
<p>It has also reduced his stake in Steinhoff: the company said on Thursday that banks have sold 98.4 million shares they used as security to lend Wiese 1.6 billion euros ($1.89 billion) to fund the purchase of additional shares in Steinhoff in September 2016.</p>
<p>Wiese started budget clothing retailer Pepkor in the 1960s, in Upington on the southern edges of the Kalahari desert, but is best known for transforming grocery retailer Shoprite (<span id="“symbol_SHPJ.J_1”"><a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=SHPJ.J">SHPJ.J</a></span>) from just six shops in the 1970s to hundreds of stores across Africa.</p>
<p>He was also instrumental in reinventing Steinhoff, turning it from a modest distributor of furniture made in communist era eastern Europe to a global household goods retailer, vying for market share with the likes of IKEA.</p>
<p>But he suffered a setback this year when Steinhoff and Shoprite, in which Wiese owns a 20 percent stake, called off a deal in February to merge to create an African shopping giant, preventing Wiese from bringing more of his retail assets under one roof.</p>
<p>His resignation comes a day after Steinhoff’s second largest shareholder Public Investment Corporation expressed discomfort about possible conflict of interest in having Wiese as interim chief executive.</p>
<p>Steinhoff, which moved its primary share listing from Johannesburg to Frankfurt two years ago, has been under investigation for suspected accounting fraud in Germany since 2015. Four current and former managers are under suspicion of having overstated revenues at subsidiaries, prosecutors said.</p>
<p>Steinhoff has previously said that the investigation related to whether revenues were booked properly, and whether taxable profits were correctly declared.</p>
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT">
<p class="Attribution_content_27_rw">Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Susan Fenton</p>
</div>


Wiese resigns as Steinhoff chairman in wake of accounting scandal

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<p>GEPF and PIC released a statement on the recent developments of governance challenges at Steinhoff and say that certain steps are necessary to secure the GEPF’s interest in the company.</p>


Why did governance slip under the watch of PIC, GEPF at Steinhoff?

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<p>GEPF and PIC released a statement on the recent developments of governance challenges at Steinhoff and say that certain steps are necessary to secure the GEPF’s interest in the company.</p>


Should the PIC be held accountable for Steinhoff?

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<p>The extent of allegations against Steinhoff suggests complicity of more than one executive and also that senior people worked together to either hide or turn a blind eye to what was really going on.</p>


SA should do more to punish corporate fraud, corruption – expert

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<p>South African retailer Steinhoff to be considering selling stakes worth a combined $1.4 billion in local companies PSG Group and KAP Industrial to help plug a liquidity gap at the retailer.</p>


PSG, KAP likely buyers revealed

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<p>The role of the JSE as the regulator during times of serious allegation against some of its listed entities has been nuanced in 2017.</p>


Why JSE’s global reputation is not at risk

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<p>The role of the JSE as the regulator during times of serious allegation against some of its listed entities has been nuanced in 2017.</p>


JSE, FSB are cooperating with German counterparts on Steinhoff probe

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<p>The role of the JSE as the regulator during times of serious allegation against some of its listed entities has been nuanced in 2017.</p>


JSE cannot be held solely responsible for Steinhoff – Parsons

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<p>Joining CNBC Africa to give us analysis on a mix of local and global markets movers is Leigh Riley<br />
Premium Client Manager, IG.</p>


How to trade derivatives on Steinhoff

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<p>Joining CNBC Africa to talk about management in corporate South Africa in-light of the developing stories around Steinhoff International as well as Naspers is Janine Hills, the MD of Vuma.</p>


Will Steinhoff recover from reputational damage? This is what a reputational management expert reckons

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<p>On Friday FirstRand announced that approximately 99.97 per cent of Aldermore Group shareholders voted in favour of FirstRand’s offer to acquire the British bank.</p>


What FirstRand will do if Billionaire Wiese, Steinhoff shown to be corrupt

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<p>The Black Business Council has condemned the unethical and corrupt behaviour of Steinhoff and its Executive Directors.</p>


SA listed companies are not transforming fast enough – BBC

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<p>German prosecutors&#8217; criminal team is still probing documents seized from Steinhoff. They are examining accounting irregularities. Joining CNBC Africa to discuss the latest is Claudia Broell, from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.</p>


What German authorities are likely to do with Steinhoff

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<p>Joining CNBC Africa for a look at Steinhoff&#8217;s impact on the market is Independent Analyst, Ashraf Mohamed.</p>


Why Coronation, other fund manager’s blip with Steinhoff is different to African Bank

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<p>Joining CNBC Africa is Michael Sassoon, Executive Director of Sasfin Holdings on Steinhoff&#8217;s impact on the market and on Sasfin.</p>


Steinhoff investors were misled by auditors – Sasfin CEO

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<p>Steinhoff International, Europe’s second-largest furniture retailer by sales has launched an investigation into accounting irregularities. Joining CNBC Africa to give analysis on a mix of local of global markets movers is Gary Booysen, Director and Portfolio Manager, Rand Swiss.</p>


Steinhoff fails to reassure investors, raises Star alarms

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<p>As Steinhoff share price plunges its stores in Africa is business as usual. Analysts believe the company should be speaking to its many of the thousand employees who work in this continent before confusion takes hold.</p>


Markus Jooste

Wiese resigns as Steinhoff chairman in wake of accounting scandal

Why did governance slip under the watch of PIC, GEPF at Steinhoff?

Should the PIC be held accountable for Steinhoff?

SA should do more to punish corporate fraud, corruption – expert

PSG, KAP likely buyers revealed

Why JSE’s global reputation is not at risk

JSE, FSB are cooperating with German counterparts on Steinhoff probe

JSE cannot be held solely responsible for Steinhoff – Parsons

How to trade derivatives on Steinhoff

Will Steinhoff recover from reputational damage? This is what a reputational management expert reckons

What FirstRand will do if Billionaire Wiese, Steinhoff shown to be corrupt

SA listed companies are not transforming fast enough – BBC

What German authorities are likely to do with Steinhoff

Why Coronation, other fund manager’s blip with Steinhoff is different to African Bank

Steinhoff investors were misled by auditors – Sasfin CEO

Steinhoff fails to reassure investors, raises Star alarms

Steinhoff is not another African Bank – analyst

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Markus Jooste

Wiese resigns as Steinhoff chairman in wake of accounting scandal

Why did governance slip under the watch of PIC, GEPF at Steinhoff?

Should the PIC be held accountable for Steinhoff?

SA should do more to punish corporate fraud, corruption – expert

PSG, KAP likely buyers revealed

Why JSE’s global reputation is not at risk

JSE, FSB are cooperating with German counterparts on Steinhoff probe

JSE cannot be held solely responsible for Steinhoff – Parsons

How to trade derivatives on Steinhoff

Will Steinhoff recover from reputational damage? This is what a reputational management expert reckons

What FirstRand will do if Billionaire Wiese, Steinhoff shown to be corrupt

SA listed companies are not transforming fast enough – BBC

What German authorities are likely to do with Steinhoff

Why Coronation, other fund manager’s blip with Steinhoff is different to African Bank

Steinhoff investors were misled by auditors – Sasfin CEO

Steinhoff fails to reassure investors, raises Star alarms

Steinhoff is not another African Bank – analyst

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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