The Wesfarmers board faces a grilling over its decision to retain a $2.3 billion stake in Coles, load up the food and liquor retailer with $2 billion of debt and retain almost $1 billion of franking credits, which means Coles will be unable to pay a fully franked dividend in its early years as a stand-alone company.

Wesfarmers shareholders will meet in Perth on Thursday to approve the $20 billion demerger of Coles, which is expected to start trading as a separately listed company on November 21.