Nail's Leadership magazine staff take the initiati
May 19, 2003
By Ann Crotty
Johannesburg - In what appears to be the corporate equivalent of a pre-emptive strike, the handful of remaining employees at Leadership magazine of New Africa Investments Limited (Nail) have retrenched themselves and the magazine title has been absorbed by Cape Media, an independent magazine group based in Cape Town.
In a move aimed at creating critical mass for Leadership and providing an empowerment partner for Cape Media, the Cape group entered into a contract to manage Leadership three months ago.
This followed a considerable cutting back of staff last year when Leadership is thought to have lost R6 million.
No Nail executive was available to comment on this latest development, which highlights the uncertainty over the future of the group's media assets.
As far back as January, Nail chief executive Saki Macozoma said that if the company was unable to acquire some of Johncom's print media assets it would consider disposing of its own media assets.
Macozoma said it was essential for the group to have critical mass and if it was not able to achieve this through mergers and acquisitions, then it would have to review its position in the media industry.
It is unclear exactly how keen Nail was to secure a deal with Johncom
. Sources close to that transaction indicate that a deal was not very hotly pursued.
When Nail released its results in late March, Macozoma said that the company was reviewing its strategy.
He added that various options would be discussed at a board meeting due to be held two weeks later, and a future strategy would be revealed at a press conference immediately after the board meeting.
At that stage it seemed that most of the decisions had already been taken and it was only the details that had to be finalised.
However, on the day of the board meeting, Nail issued a statement saying the press conference was postponed indefinitely.
This suggested that Macozoma's plans differed from those of key board members.
Interested parties have apparently approached Nail with offers for the media assets but have received no response, although a board committee was appointed to look at any offers.
Speculation is limited to a joint bid from Johncom, Caxton and Kagiso, with Johncom acquiring the publishing assets such as Sowetan, Caxton the printing business and Kagiso the radio assets.
Nail closed 5c up at R5.86 in Johannesburg on Friday.
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