{"id":786567,"date":"2024-08-13T08:26:55","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T06:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=786567"},"modified":"2024-08-13T09:56:43","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T07:56:43","slug":"end-of-an-era-for-pick-n-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/786567\/end-of-an-era-for-pick-n-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"End of an era for Pick n Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pick n Pay’s ownership structure has officially changed, with the Ackerman Family giving up control of the retailer after 57 years at the helm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailer has been hit by extreme headwinds recently, with the company reporting R3.2 billion loss for the financial year ended 29 February 2024 (FY24)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite profits at Boxer and Pick n Pay Clothing, the group’s core grocery business triggered a R2.8 billion non-cash impairment on the assets of Pick n Pay company-owned stores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, the group announced a two-step capital raise plan, starting off with a R4 billion rights offer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The offer was a success, with it being oversubscribed by 106% as total subscriptions reached R8 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The R4 billion generated is being used to pay down debt, stabilise the balance sheet, and invest in Pick n Pay\u2019s turnaround strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As per the rights offer, the Ackerman family reduced their percentage of voting rights from 52% to 49%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said that a 3.00% reduction in the Ackerman family’s voting rights has been undertaken to support its transformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the family no longer has complete control over the direction of the company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raymond Ackerman founded Pick n Pay, in its current form<\/strong><\/a>, in 1967 after he bought four stores with his wife, Wendy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite his 2010 resignation as chairman, Ackerman’s family maintained control over the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the poor results have ushered in a new era, with Gareth Ackerman (Raymond’s son) set to resign as chairman after the FY25 results are released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gareth would have been chairman for 14 years.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Outgoing Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

What next <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said that the recapitalisation of its business forms one of six strategic priorities aimed at restoring profitability at the group’s core Pick n Pay grocery stores while also driving further growth at the Boxer and Pick n Pay clothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said that it is now seeing measurable improvements at its core Pick n Pay grocery business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe successful conclusion of the Rights Offer demonstrates the market\u2019s strong confidence in our iconic brand and in our turnaround strategy,\u201d said CEO Sean Summers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt marks a crucial first step in our recapitalisation plan, positioning the group well to fund long-term sustainable growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can now intensify our focus on our core Pick n Pay retail business. This achievement underscores our commitment to executing our strategy. We appreciate this incredible support from our shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the rights offer finalised, the group has completed the first step to recapitalise its business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second step will be listing Boxer on the JSE later this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boxer, alongside Pick n Pay Clothing, was a bright spark for the group amid a challenging operating environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In FY24, overall group turnover increased by 5.4%, driven by strong growth from Boxer (17.3%) and Pick n Pay Clothing standalone stores (17.0%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although overall trading profit declined by 87.4% to R385 million, Boxer posted a R1.9 billion trading profit (FY23: R1.8 billion profit).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Read<\/strong>: 26 mega-projects coming to South Africa \u2013 including a new airport and \u2018city\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pick n Pay’s ownership structure has changed after the group raised R4 billion in the first step of its recapitalisation plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":786580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[26,4067],"class_list":["post-786567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-headline","tag-pick-n-pay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786567"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":786598,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786567\/revisions\/786598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}