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- Christo Wiese says his Titan group of companies will support Steinhoff's global settlement proposal.
- The former Steinhoff chairperson says all "uncertainties" around the terms of the proposal have been ironed out.
- Steinhoff has urged all claimants who lost out in its share price plunge to support the settlement plan, saying it may have to be liquidated if the plan doesn't receive enough votes.
Steinhoff's former chairperson Christo Wiese says his Titan group of companies will vote in favour of Steinhoff's multibillion-rand settlement proposal after "uncertainties" were removed.
"There are now no uncertainties. The terms are crystal clear," he told Fin24 on Monday morning.
This comes after Steinhoff this weekend launched a last-minute court action to try and "compel" companies linked to Wiese to support its R25 billion settlement plan.
As a result of the court action, a key vote by contractual claimants was postponed from Monday to Thursday. Wiese confirmed that at this vote, Titan and its affiliates would support the settlement plan, as all sticking points had now been ironed out.
Votes by financial creditors and market purchase claimants will continue as planned on Monday.
Wiese declined to describe the nature of the "uncertainties" in detail, but noted the settlement proposal was tremendously complicated.
Under the proposal, litigants would receive a proportion of their verified claims, according to a term sheet drawn up by Steinhoff. In return, they would have to drop all legal challenges against the retailer, which would not admit any liability.
While Wiese said that Titan and its affiliates would support the settlement, he could not say whether other claimants would vote yes.
Spectre of liquidation
If Steinhoff does not receive the requisite majority of votes taking place in South Africa and Holland, it has said it may have to be liquidated.
On Friday, the vote set to take have taken place in the Netherlands was postponed to Wednesday this week. No reason was given.
Meanwhile, the Western Cape High Court is set to rule on Monday whether it has jurisdiction to hear a separate liquidation application against Steinhoff.
The case was brought by the one-time owners of shoe retailer Tekkie Town, who claim they were "duped' into swapping their shares in the footwear retailer for Steinhoff stock.
Steinhoff is opposing the application, arguing that a South African court cannot liquidate it as its parent company was incorporated in the Netherlands.
* This article has been updated to clarify that only the votes of contractual claimants has been postponed to Thursday.
