Cape Town - Supermarket group Shoprite Holdings disclosed in its 2005 annual report that board chairman Christo Wiese, chief executive Whitey Basson and non-executive director JA (Nols) Louw all held private business interests that sold products to Shoprite Holdings.
Wiese said this week that he did not know the value of his farming interests' transactions with Shoprite Holdings "off the top of my head, but it will certainly not exceed R100 000 in one year". He owns fruit and wine farms.
The annual report stated that the "purchases were concluded at market-related prices and are insignificant in terms of the group's total operations for the year". The disclosure in the annual report did not state the value of the transactions.
Wiese said Shoprite Holdings had an annual turnover of R30.3 billion, while his farming interests turned over less than R100 million.
Jayne Mammatt, Ernst & Young's head of corporate governance and sustainability, said there was a conflict of interest, but Shoprite Holdings had handled it well by being transparent and disclosing the transactions.
Wiese said Basson and Louw also owned farms but did not specify the nature of their transactions. He said Louw was also the deputy chairman of Pioneer Foods, which sold products to Shoprite Holdings.
The disclosure in the annual report could refer to products Pioneer Foods sold to Shoprite Holdings.
The annual reports of 2005 as well as 2004 also revealed that during the 2004 financial year, Shoprite Holdings sold 50 percent of its interest in fast food retailer Hungry Lion "to a family member of Mr JW Basson" for R24 million and that the price was based on external and independent valuations.
Wiese said that this family member was Basson's eldest son, Adriaan Basson.
The 2005 report stated that this price had been adjusted down from R24 million to R22 million "due to certain suspensive conditions not being fulfilled".
Wiese said these suspensive conditions included delays in getting regulatory approval for Hungry Lion to trade in some neighbouring countries. He also clarified that there was neither a blood nor a marriage relationship between Whitey Basson and himself.
Wiese said he was married to Caro Wiese, whose maiden name had been Basson, but that she was not related to Whitey Basson, "though I would be perfectly happy to have Whitey as a relative as we have been friends for more than 40 years".
Shoprite Holdings shares were up 20c yesterday at R20. The food and drug retailers sector rose 0.95 percent.