South African company Pensant Consulting has finalised a $10-million deal with the Italian owners of National Geographic‘s merchandising rights, the Italian-South African Chamber of Trade and Industries announced on Friday.
The chamber’s secretary general, Maria Haenen, said the deal relates to the launch of a wide range of National Geographic products in the South African and African markets, as well as some Middle East countries.
Operations will get under way in South Africa with a test market in place for December and full operations by February next year. Haenen expects a rapid roll-out to other countries over the following 12 to 24 months.
Local operations will have a strong black economic empowerment (BEE) component, both in terms of ownership and product sourcing.
Pensant has begun the process of evaluating suitable investors for the National Geographic brand in the country.
Haenen has invited interested BEE investors who are able to meet some stringent timing criteria to contact the chamber. — I-Net Bridge