Pick n Pay founding family, the Ackermans, will forgo their majority shareholding in the grocery retailer. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Pick n Pay founding family, the Ackermans, will forgo their majority shareholding in the grocery retailer.
The retail group confirmed the news in a statement on Monday morning, saying the family’s voting rights would fall slightly below 50% after the planned rights offer.
The news comes in the wake of a disappointing set of annual results. In the 12 months to 25 February 2024, Pick n Pay’s trading profit fell to R385 million — a staggering decline from the R3 billion recorded in 2023. The group’s headline loss per share was 203.06 cents.
Pick n Pay’s weak performance comes after Sean Summers was asked to reprise his role as chief executive, after having led the company from 1999 to 2006, in a bid to revive the brand. His appointment came less than a month after the death of the retail empire’s patriarch, Raymond Ackerman.
According to Monday’s statement, Ackerman Investment Holdings will also relinquish the right to nominate the chairman, chief executive and chief financial officer immediately. The representation of the Ackerman family on the board of directors will be reduced to three members — Gareth Ackerman, Suzanne Ackerman and Jonathan Ackerman — from the 2024 annual general meeting.
Gareth Ackerman, Pick n Pay’s board chair, will retire from the role after the release of the company’s 2025 results. He has stepped down from the nominations and treasury committees with immediate effect.
Commenting on the announcement, Ackerman said: “This is a strong vote of confidence by the Ackerman family in the future of Pick n Pay. The changes in the control structure being announced today are intended to support the business in its transformation under the leadership of CEO Sean Summers and his management team.”
According to Ackerman, the family had been considering the changing operating environment for some time.
“To quote a favourite expression of my father, ‘We need to listen to the whispers of tomorrow.’ The difficulty the business has found itself in recently has proved an opportune moment to accelerate the renewal process,” he added.