At last, Pick n Pay moves with the times

The Ackerman family is the latest dynasty to shift gears in how it controls the company it founded, after years of shareholder pressure to collapse the pyramid structure that has given the family artificial control. The structure, in place since 1981, was meant to protect the retailer against predators and hostile takeovers when it was rumoured there were fears that Anton Rupert of Rembrandt and Jan Pickard of Sanlam were planning to pounce.