Johncom Name Removed From Building

At 4 Biermann Avenue, the home of the countries largest newspaper, the Sunday Times, and the HQ of Johhncom, workers were seen last night removing the Johncom nomenclature off the side of the building.

One set of signage remains, an arc that wraps around the second floor balcony which is where the Sunday Times itself is originated.

It makes sense, with the Presidential Race about to go into full swing, that a major influencer of public opinion be itself influenced - if possible - by the major political party of the day. The question is, should such a powerful newspaper be allowed to be become fundamentally biased?

Mvela to acquire Johncom stake

Tokyo Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda Group is to acquire between 25.1 percent and 30percent of Opco, a company being formed to hold the media and entertainment assets of Johnnic Communications.

by Xolile Bhengu, in The Times.co.za

The stake is being acquired from client portfolios, which are currently managed or advised by fund managers Allan Gray, for just over R1.4-billion.

The announcement saw Johncom’s share price jump more than 5 percent to R109.50, while Mvela’s weakened to 50c to R53.

Yolanda Xuba, Mvela chief executive said the deal will see it obtain part ownership of Sunday Times, Sowetan, Sunday World, The Herald, magazine publications as well las retail divisions of Johncom that include Exclusive Books and Nu Metro.

She said the deal was a culmination of two years of talks between Mvela and the media group. The Johncom board has asked that the deal only be done after the actual unbundling.
Johncom’s unbundling is estimated to be worth R7-billion. Mvela said it already had R1-billion in equity and was speaking to several banks for the remainder of funding.

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