But Roux says he would have approached the role with alacrity
Spar’s share price dropped as much as 5.02% on Friday morning before recovering sharply after its announcement that turnaround specialist Phil Roux had turned down a role on the Spar board. Image: Supplied
Turnaround specialist Phil Roux, who has declined a position on the Spar board, said he believes “Spar has tremendous value to be unlocked”.
Roux told Moneyweb it would be unprofessional to give reasons for why he turned the position down.
Spar’s share price dropped as much as 5.02% on Friday morning before recovering sharply after its announcement that Roux had declined a position.
It also announced on Thursday night that it had appointed its longest-serving board member, who joined in 2019, Lwazi Koyana as chair.
Former Massmart and Edcon CEO Grant Pattison, who was in charge when Edgars went into business rescue, was also appointed on Thursday evening as a non-executive director – having resigned from struggling retailer’s Pick n Pay’s board – with immediate effect in October.
Spar Guild had backed Roux
A leaked letter dated 10 September from the Spar Guild, which represents the retailers, had backed Roux for the position saying it presented an “important opportunity for aligment” following months of conflict over the group’s leadership.
The guild said at the time Roux “brings extensive experience as a chief executive of listed companies, together with experience across the retail value chain and a strong track record of improving and repositioning underperforming businesses across a number of industries”.
On Thursday night, Spar announced that Roux had not yet responded to their offer of a position and that they would update the market when he did.
Roux told News24 he had in fact responded to the board saying he would only accept the position with conditions, and the Sens announcement was incorrect. He did not detail these conditions.
On Friday morning, Spar announced Roux had declined a position on the board.
Roux told Moneyweb on Friday he could unfortunately not disclose the reasons for turning down the board.
“It would be unprofessional of me to, [detail the reasons for turning down the offer] suffice to say it is not because of the challenge which I would have embraced with alacrity.”
Spar said “the board thanks Phil for his engagement during the process and respects his decision”.
“The board remains committed to strengthening its composition and will continue its efforts to appoint directors with the appropriate skills and experience.”
Former chair Mike Bosman and deputy chair Shirley Zinn resigned with immediate effect on 17 August citing conflict with the guild.
Spar’s share price has plummeted about 75% over the past five years. It lost billions in its expansion to Switzerland and Poland, countries it has it has now exited, and a failed SAP software implementation in its largest distribution centre drove independent retailers to buy from other suppliers instead of Spar.
It’s convenience model faces challenges from on-demand delivery such as Checkers Sixty60.
The guild was not available to comment.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
