The former owners of Tekkie Town, which was acquired by Steinhoff in 2016, launched an application in the Western Cape High Court yesterday to liquidate the company.

A Business Day report notes the application comes while Steinhoff is trying to persuade former business partners and shareholders to accept the proposed $1bn (about R14bn) settlement.

Braam van Huyssteen, founder of Tekkie Town, and former CEO Bernard Mostert and other entities representing former executives and shareholders of the business have brought the application as ‘contingent or prospective creditors’ of the company and on the grounds that Steinhoff is ‘unable to pay its debts (and) its liabilities exceed its assets by such a margin that it has lost more than 75% of its share capital’.

Attorney Paul Katzeff, chair of C&A Friedlander, who is representing the former Tekkie Town owners, says the application calls into question the bona fides of Steinhoff’s proposed global settlement of many claims, including one from former chair and shareholder Christo Wiese.

‘The proposed settlement favours some creditors over others. If it goes ahead as planned, Tekkie Town’s former owners will not be able to pursue their claim for restitution of their business. Instead, they will be paid out a minuscule fraction of the value they put into the company. So we want Steinhoff liquidated so that all creditors can be treated equally and, critically, that the lid can be fully lifted on SA’s largest ever corporate fraud.’

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