Jooste to oppose Steinhoff claim

Markus Jooste's legal team yesterday indicated that he would be opposing Steinhoff's civil claim of around R858m. The document in which Jooste indicates that he is planning to oppose the motion, namely the notice of intention to defend, has been filed at the Western Cape High Court and sent to Steinhoff's legal team. As a result, Jooste has made the deadline, which was within 10 working days of being served with the summons. He now has another 20 working days to submit his responding papers to the court. A report on the Fin24 site notes that Callie Albertyn of De Klerk & Van Gend is representing Jooste and Robert Driman of Werskmans Attorneys is representing Steinhoff. The company is claiming for nine years' worth of salaries, bonuses and share incentives, plus interest, as well as legal costs from Jooste, who was its CEO until December, 2017. The claim was laid out in a summons stamped by the court on 14 June and served on Jooste shortly thereafter.

Dutch law firm BarentsKrans has started legal proceedings against Steinhoff, the group said in an update to shareholders Tuesday, according to Fin24. This comes after the firm initially invited shareholders in September last year to join a potential class action suit in the District Court in Amsterdam against the retailer. According to a statement issued by BarentKrans at the time, investors who bought shares in Steinhoff or its predecessor entity, Steinhoff International Holdings Limited, on either the JSE or the Frankfurt Stock Exchange would qualify. The shares would have had to be bought between 26 June 2013 and 6 2017 or the shareholders must have held some shares on 5 or 6 December 2017. In Tuesday's update to shareholders, Steinhoff says that a writ of summons was received from BarentsKrans on 21 June on behalf of Hamilton BV. This initiates legal proceedings against Steinhoff and others ‘for declaratory relief relating to currently unquantified damages arising from alleged wrongful acts’. Steinhoff and Hamilton have agreed that no procedural steps would be due from Steinhoff until later in the year.