Pick ‘n Pay troubles drain $120 million from South Africa’s Ackerman family

Despite an initial rise in the market value of their stake in Pick ‘n Pay, South Africa’s Ackerman family has experienced a significant decline of more than $121 million since the start of the year from their joint shares in the South African retailer.

According to data tracked by Billionaires.Africa, the market value of the joint stake in Pick ‘n Pay, has dropped by $121.24 million (R2.18 billion) since the start of the year, driven by the recent decline in the retailer’s shares.

Pick ‘n Pay is the second-largest supermarket chain in South Africa and one of the leading retailers in Africa. With about 2,000 stores in total, the retailer recently opened its first store in Nigeria in March 2021, expanding its footprint to eight countries.

Raymond Ackerman founded the retailer in 1967 after purchasing the first four Pick ‘n Pay stores in Cape Town, South Africa. Since then, it has grown into a household name in South Africa and expanded its operations to Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Swaziland, and Lesotho.

Today Raymond Ackerman’s son, Gareth Ackerman, is currently the chairman of Pick ‘n Pay. The Ackerman family currently holds a significant 25.53-percent stake in the retailer, amounting to 124,677,238 issued shares.

Since the start of the year, Pick ‘n Pay’s share price has declined from $3.24 (R58.13) to $2.30 (R40.67). This translates to a 30.04-percent loss for shareholders since the beginning of the year.

As a result of the decline in the company’s shares, the market value of the joint equity stake owned by the Ackerman family has fallen from $403.6 billion (R7.3 billion) at the start of the year to $282.4 million (R5.1 billion) at the time of writing.

This translates to a $121.2-million (R2.2 billion) loss for the Ackermans to date.