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In a stunning reversal, South African media group Media24 has halted plans to close several print titles and dismiss employees, pending regulatory approval for the planned sale of its distribution business On the Dot to Novus.
In June, Moneyweb revealed that Media24 had decided to close the print editions of Beeld, Rapport, City Press, Daily Sun, and Soccer Laduma, as well as the digital (PDF) editions of Volksblad and Die Burger Oos-Kaap and the digital hub SNL24 before September. This would have led to job cuts of around 400 people.
Novus is one of southern Africa’s most prominent print, publishing, and packaging groups. It has a longstanding relationship with Media24 and prints all of its newspapers.
Media24 has now confirmed that it will not implement retrenchments (or newspaper closures) until the Competition Commission approves its proposed sale of On the Dot and several community newspapers to Novus.
Says Ishmet Davidson, chief executive officer of Media24: “It never was our intention to do so before approval from the relevant authorities since the sale of On the Dot is a direct consequence of our intention to close the affected titles.
However, it is important to note that this undertaking does not include ceasing the Section 189 consultation process related to the affected newspaper titles. As we have said on numerous occasions, we intend to comply with the relevant regulatory and statutory requirements.” – Moneyweb
Online Reporter