/ 27 July 2006

M&G publisher acquires two more titles

M&G Media, which publishes the Mail & Guardian, on Thursday announced that it has expanded the portfolio of its magazine publications by acquiring ownership of two key titles from Traders Publications: Traders and the Health Care Journal.

The effective date of the transaction is August 1 this year, when M&G Media officially takes over as publisher of the titles.

Jason Zeelie, managing director for publishing at M&G Media, said: ”This is a very exciting step for us, as it starts to open up other publishing opportunities. Both Traders and Health Care Journal are established B2B brands that are market leaders in their respective industries.

”The publications do not compete with Mail & Guardian, but will complement it. This was an important factor in the decision to acquire these two publications. I, along with the team, look forward to growing these two products further.”

The new titles will also be distributed by Central Media Distributors (Cape) (CMD), the company in which M&G Media acquired a 50% shareholding a few weeks ago.

Trevor Ncube, chief executive and majority shareholder of M&G Media, said the transaction reflects the company’s strategy to enter the magazine market through acquisitions of existing titles and operations.

The M&G recently announced that it would be responsible for its own distribution, which was a key step in securing the newspaper’s independence, according to M&G Media chief operating officer Hoosain Karjieker.

Central Media Distributors was started by leading distributor and entrepreneur James Swemmer. Ncube is chairperson of the new distribution company and Swemmer is the MD.

M&G Media is now aiming to distribute more than 60 000 copies of the newspaper every week for shop and street sales throughout South Africa as well as in other sub-Saharan countries.

The M&G showed impressive growth in circulation from January to March this year, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures released at the end of May.

The M&G’s ABC circulation figure for the period was 42 116 — higher than figures for Business Day (41 623) and the Sunday Independent (42 001).

This means the newspaper’s circulation grew by 6,2%, even though the sector (weekly newspapers) shrank by 3,5%. The sector for weekend newspapers shrank by 8,1%.