Independent News & Media SA (INMSA) was “brought back home” in an event at the Cape Town International Convention Centre last night, where President Jacob Zuma gave the keynote address.
INMSA was being relaunched as a local company after it was bought in August last year by a consortium led by Sekunjalo executive chairman Dr Iqbal Survé, from Ireland-based Independent News & Media, which had owned it for 20 years. The ceremony was attended by 20 local and international media houses and about 600 people, including Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille, members of Parliament, leaders of political parties, captains of industry, investment community members, diplomats, academics, journalists and community leaders.
Survé repeated his commitment to reinvest in the business following years of neglect and disinvestment. It would adopt digital and new media strategies to move aggressively into the 21st-century world of news dissemination, he said. He said the new owners would nurture INMSA’s position as the country’s largest print media company by expanding into new markets, and develop an Africa expansion strategy to align the group with the continent’s growth.
Sekunjalo Group leads a controlling consortium including union investment funds and broad-based empowerment groups, while the Public Investment Corporation and the China-Africa Development Fund have minority stakes. – Staff Reporter