The application to liquidate retailer Steinhoff can go ahead this week, Judge Hayley Maud Slingers ruled on Friday evening, dismissing Steinhoff’s application for a postponement, notes a BusinessLIVE report.

Slingers did not give reasons as she had a short time frame in which to give her order after Steinhoff requested the postponement on Thursday.

The liquidation case against Steinhoff was brought by the founders of footwear retailer Tekkie Town, who are trying to get their business back from Steinhoff, arguing they were duped into selling it for R1.8bn in Steinhoff shares, just months before the share price collapsed when SA’s biggest corporate fraud was revealed in December 2017.

There is much urgency for the liquidation case to be heard, as Steinhoff is also trying to finalise a settlement offer worth €1.42bn (about R25bn) with hundreds of creditors who say they bought a worthless stock based on misleading information.

Facing bankruptcy from claims exceeding R130bn, Steinhoff offered the settlement hoping to end the court action.

The process took years of detailed negotiations in SA and Europe and culminated in four votes in favour of it last week, with the final one passing on Friday afternoon.

In the liquidation case, Advocate Arnold Subel, acting for Steinhoff, accused the two former owners of Tekkie Town of causing ‘irreparable prejudice’ to the thousands of creditors that have voted in favour of the settlement, saying the application was ‘holding them to ransom’.

In his affidavit, notes BusinessLIVE, former Tekkie Town boss Bernard Mostert said the settlement scheme could thwart attempts to have Tekkie Town returned to him and his partner Braam Van Huyssteen.

He says a liquidation would allow for an independent investigation into the Steinhoff fraud, for which there has not been a single arrest or prosecution.

Full BusinessLIVE report

All four votes in favour of the Steinhoff settlement have now been passed. Steinhoff’s former largest shareholder, Christo Wiese, was among those voting on Friday afternoon.

BusinessLIVE says the settlement, which was years in the making, has received enough approval from all claimants who lost money in the collapse.

The settlement offer must still go before the SA and Dutch courts for approval.

It could, theoretically, face challenges in both courts by unhappy parties. Also, if granted, the liquidation could derail the settlement.

The claimants in the Netherlands were represented by 15 individuals termed a ‘committee of representation’ and all voted to support the settlement on Wednesday.

More than the required 75% of the three SA groups voted in favour of the settlement.

These are contractual claimants such as former chair Wiese, who sold his company in exchange for Steinhoff shares; financial claimants such as banks; and market purchase claimants, which represent institutional investors and ordinary shareholders.

Full BusinessLIVE report