Away from tarnished Tiger

Robbie Williams (the veteran SA company director, not the fluffy UK pop singer) may not have escaped the limelight entirely, but he will be thanking all the gods of price-fixing that he retired as chairman of Tiger Brands nearly two years ago.

Tiger, as everyone knows, is in the middle of a price-fixing scandal that has led to a R98m fine from the Competition Tribunal, and mutterings from tribunal chairman David Lewis that jail time for guilty executives wouldn't be such an unwelcome legislative intervention.

The scandal has also claimed the scalp of long-serving CEO Nick Dennis, who is adamant he knew nothing of the pricing discussions, despite a letter that surfaced from insiders claiming Dennis is not the naive angel he makes himself out to be.

Williams, however, says the entire ordeal is "very upsetting. I enjoyed my time there, but it's been a big disappointment and a great shock."

It seems Williams retired from Tiger Brands just in time, in March 2006. Of course, being one of the core members of the "directors' treadmill", he still sits on a number of boards, including those of banking group FirstRand and Illovo Sugar, which he chairs.

So if Williams had still been chairman, would he have pushed Dennis?
"That's a bit of a hypothetical question," says Williams. "Certainly, he's reasonably young, about 60, and he's got a lot of energy, which he puts into the business. One never likes to see a person of that calibre go early."

However, surely, it is a good thing that Dennis has (belatedly) accepted responsibility and quit? After all, if a R98m price-fixing fine takes place on the CEO's watch, the obvious inference is that either he knew about it, or he ought to have.

Ever the diplomat, Williams concedes, "Ultimately, someone has to be responsible, and that's what Nick's done, he's taken responsibility for it".

However, he adds that he believes Dennis entirely: "I worked closely with Nick Dennis for years, and he is a person who has the utmost integrity... it was a tough decision for him, but it was a personal choice because he felt his integrity was being impugned."

He says it is a "sad end" for a man who "loved the business... and who has been good for the company and shareholders".

However, he is adamant that during his time, price-fixing and pricing discussions would never have been condoned.

"It's always been a tremendously serious issue, and that's why Nick says he didn't know and would never have condoned it. I remember that guys would come and speak to the [Tiger Brands] management about the implications, and there's certainly no culture of talking to competitors," he says.

As an afterthought, he adds that Tiger Brands, as the market leader, does not need to talk to competitors.

Tiger Brands may be the market leader, but shareholders will not be pleased that it was not able to make this position count on the JSE this year.

This time last year, its share price was R171 - exactly where the stock is trading now - and in the past six months, Tiger Brands' shares have slid 15%. There is also the not-so-cheerful prospect of the continuing competition probe into price-fixing in Tiger's milling operations. Therefore, it seems some cynicism is warranted.

On the other hand, this is exactly the sort of vulnerability that private equity buyers love: a strong market position and cash flows but a subdued share price.

When it comes to Williams, he says he has no immediate plans to retire: "I review it from year to year. I'm not intending to work for the rest of my life." Despite falling over himself to excuse Dennis, it seems this Robbie Williams has just as much energy as the UK singer with whom he shares a name.

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