| Wed 21 Oct 2009, 8:01 | | PIK/PWK - Pick `n Pay/Pick `n Pay Holdings - Ackerman to retire as Pick N Pay |
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PWK PIK
PWK PIK
PIK/PWK - Pick `n Pay/Pick `n Pay Holdings - Ackerman to retire as Pick N Pay
Chairman, Gareth Ackerman Appointed Non-Executive Chairman
PICK `N PAY STORES LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1968/008034/06)
Share code: PIK
ISIN code: ZAE000005443
Pick `n Pay Holdings Ltd
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1981/009610/06)
Share code: PWK ISIN: ZAE000005724
ACKERMAN TO RETIRE AS PICK N PAY CHAIRMAN, GARETH ACKERMAN APPOINTED NON-
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
Ackerman senior to stay in ambassadorial role and advisor to the company
Pick n Pay Stores Chairman Raymond Ackerman announced today that he would be
retiring the chairmanship of the company effective 01 March 2010, after a career
at the company spanning 43 years. He will stay on as an advisor to the company
performing an ambassadorial role and will continue to be based at the company`s
head office in Cape Town.
Pick n Pay Holdings (Pikwik) chairman Gareth Ackerman (52) has been confirmed by
the board as the new non-executive chairman of Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. The
position has been changed to a non-executive one in line with corporate
governance recommendations.
Said Ackerman (snr): "In March next year, I will be in my 80th year. The
company under CEO Nick Badminton has done some incredible forward planning and
the strategic direction taken by the company has resulted in a five year plan
that is both remarkable and very confident. These plans include our rollout of
SAP, our move to centralised distribution, our franchise conversions producing
new black ownership, the rollout of our new brand and our focus on
sustainability.
"Looking ahead, the company is in a very strong position and is extremely well
placed for the future. All the foundations have been laid and I believe this is
an appropriate time for me to hand over the chairmanship of the company, despite
this year being really tough.
"Gareth has spent most of his life with Pick n Pay. He has had numerous
positions at the company ranging from buying to store management and running our
butchery division, to becoming joint MD, the first MD of Group Enterprises and
deputy chairman. He is currently chairman of Pikwik, our holding company, and
has done a quiet, but formidable job at the helm of Pikwik and in running the
Ackerman Family`s office and investment funds. He has been an astute and focused
director of Pick n Pay for some 19 years, serving on our Remuneration, Audit
(when permitted under corporate governance rules) and Corporate Governance and
Nominations Committees, which he chairs.
"He has also spent the last ten years consulting and doing corporate finance
through his company and has achieved wide ranging experience outside of the
company, including lecturing around the world and as an Associate Fellow at the
Said Business School at the University of Oxford. He has also played a
leadership role in the global Consumer Goods Forum (CIES) for many years. This
external and global perspective will greatly assist him in his tasks as Chairman
of Pick n Pay Stores. He has played a key role in the building of the Ackerman
Pick n Pay Foundations and has worked extensively in building sustainable
agricultural projects in Southern Africa.
"We are unashamedly a family controlled but professionally managed company with
a very strong focus on corporate governance. I believe this has been a core
strength of the company and has always allowed us - to the benefit of all Pick n
Pay Stores and Holdings shareholders - to take a long term view of the company
instead of focusing on immediate- or- short-term returns. The annual compound
growth of the group over this period attests to validity of the implementation
of long term strategy. An investor who put R100 into the business on listing in
1968 would today have just about R1 million - a compound annual growth of 25.3%.
Being family controlled has also ensured that the values introduced in 1967 have
carried through over 42 years. Importantly, this will not change."
Stores Chairman-designate Gareth Ackerman said that after a lifetime of
preparation, he was looking greatly forward to taking the reins of the company
as non-executive chairman. "My father changed the face of retail in South Africa
and that is the legacy that will always be present at Pick n Pay. The challenge
ahead of me is overseeing the operations of a company by working with and
through the excellent management team headed by CEO Nick Badminton. The Group is
competing in a constantly changing market with a widening array of needs and
demands.
"It`s a challenge that I`m embracing with a healthy combination of confidence
and humility. A very capable executive team is in place and they have proved
that they are more than up to the task of delivering solid performances into the
future."
Since the start of the company in 1967, Pick n Pay:
* Has grown from four small stores in Cape Town to 795 stores (predicted Feb
2010) comprising 463 corporate stores and 332 franchise stores
* Has increased the number of employees from 175 to 53,100
* Has produced a total return to a shareholder who invested R100 at listing in
1968 of nearly R1-million
* Has produced 20-year share price compound growth as at October 2009 of 16.0%
(10 years 17.5%) and Pikwik, 14.9% (10 years 18.1%).
* Pioneered hypermarkets and food retail franchising
* Has diversified into liquor, clothing and pharmacy
* Introduced new black ownership into the company through its very successful
franchise division
* Pioneered consumer sovereignty and being the consumer champion
* Introduced the concept of sustainability nearly a decade before other
retailers
* Was the first company to introduce paternity leave and HIV treatment for
employees
* Introduced active and substantive social investment and employee share
ownership many years before it became the corporate norm.
Jonathan Ackerman and Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, currently alternate directors on
the Pick n Pay Stores Board, will become full time directors, replacing Raymond
and Wendy Ackerman.
Gareth Ackerman will vacate the chairmanship of Pikwik and Raymond Ackerman will
be interim chairman of Pikwik. Jonathan Ackerman, Suzanne Ackerman-Berman and
David Robins will become alternate directors on the Pikwik board to Raymond
Ackerman, Wendy Ackerman and Gareth Ackerman respectively.
With immediate effect, Hugh Herman has also been appointed as lead non executive
independent director of Pick n Pay Stores Ltd.
For further information please contact Tamra Veley on 083 251 3658.
21 October 2009
Sponsor: Investec Bank Limited
Date: 21/10/2009 08:01:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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