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Arena Holdings, formerly known as Tiso Blackstar Group, Johnnic Communications, Avusa and the Times Media Group, is a South African media company based in
Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
. It publishes several major South African newspapers, including the ''
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'', ''
Business Day A business day normally means any day except a legal holiday. It may also mean a business day of operation, any of the days an organization operates. It depends on the local workweek which is dictated by local customs, religions, and business ...
'', '' Financial Mail'', ''
Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...
'', '' Sowetan'' and '' Daily Dispatch''. It acquired its current name in 2019 when it was acquired by Lebashe Investment Group, the current owner of the company.


History

Arena Holdings's media assets originated in the publishing stable of the Omni Media Corporation, which was owned by Anglo American until the latter unbundled various media assets during the
black economic empowerment Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities cr ...
(BEE) boom of the early post-
apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English:  , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
period. Control of the media assets (then held under Times Media Limited) vested in Johnnic Holdings Limited, which was controlled by the BEE group National Empowerment Consortium. Johnnic Holdings restructured in 2000, creating Johnnic Communications (Johncom) from the entertainment and publishing assets of the former Omni Media Corporation. By 2003, Johncom was valued at between R1.5 billion and R2 billion, and the following year its wholly-owned subsidiary, Johnnic Publishing, acquired New Africa Publications – which owned 100 per cent of the influential '' Sowetan'' newspaper – from New Africa Investments Limited. In March 2005, Johnnic Holdings unbundled its entire 62.5 per cent shareholding in Johncom, as Johnnic Holdings moved to refocus on the hotels and gaming sector. In October 2007, Johncom announced a proposal to change its name to Avusa in order to distinguish itself from its former parent company. Shortly afterwards, in November 2007, a company called Koni Media Holdings launched a R7-billion bid to take over 100 per cent of Avusa, possibly with funding from the state-owned asset manager, the Public Investment Corporation. Because Koni Media's shareholders also included three high-level government officials – Titus Mafolo, Ronnie Mamoepa and Billy Modise – there was wide speculation that President
Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...
's government was involved in the takeover bid, a claim strongly denied by Koni Media and by Mbeki. The deal did not go through. The Mvelaphanda Group launched a bid to take over Avusa in 2012, and in September of that year it unbundled Avusa's media assets into a new holding company, Times Media Group (formerly a Mvelaphanda subsidiary named Richtrau 229), which listed on the JSE on 25 September. In 2013, the Times Media Group took full ownership of BDFM (the publisher of the ''
Business Day A business day normally means any day except a legal holiday. It may also mean a business day of operation, any of the days an organization operates. It depends on the local workweek which is dictated by local customs, religions, and business ...
'' and '' Financial Mail''), buying Pearson's 50 per cent stake in the venture. However, in the same year, Times Media sold
Exclusive Books Exclusive Books is one of South Africa's largest bookselling chains with stores throughout South Africa, and one store in Gaborone, Botswana and one in Windhoek, Namibia. As of 1 December 2013, the chain is owned and operated by a private group ...
to a private equity firm in September 2013, and it sold Nu Metro to another private equity firm in January 2014. The Blackstar Group (newly renamed Tiso Blackstar Group) acquired full ownership of the Times Media Group in June 2015, and the latter was renamed as Tiso Blackstar Group in June 2017. However, in 2019, Tiso Blackstar Group sold its print, broadcasting, and content assets to Lebashe Investment Group for R1.05 billion; Lebashe rebundled the assets in a new company called Arena Holdings. In September 2023, Arena Holdings announced that it was restructuring its news and entertainment businesses.


Publications and services


Magazines

* ''Computing SA'' * ''
Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...
'' * '' Financial Mail'' * ''Home Owner'' * ''SA Mining'' * ''Soccerlife'' * ''Top Huis''


Newspapers

* ''
Business Day A business day normally means any day except a legal holiday. It may also mean a business day of operation, any of the days an organization operates. It depends on the local workweek which is dictated by local customs, religions, and business ...
'' * '' Daily Dispatch'' * '' The Herald'' * ''
The Sowetan ''The Sowetan'' is an English-language South African daily newspaper that started in 1981 as a liberation struggle newspaper and was freely distributed to households in the then apartheid-segregated township of Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng P ...
'' * ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' * ''Sunday World'' * ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' * ''Weekend Post'' * Times Media community newspapers ** ''Algoa Sun'' ** ''Go! & Express'' ** ''Our Times'' ** ''The Rep'' ** ''Talk of the Town''


Publishers

*
New Holland Publishers New Holland Publishers is an Australian based international publisher of non-fiction books, founded in 1955. It is a privately held company, with offices in Australia. History The publishing firm was established as "Holland Press" was on 20 Jun ...
* Mediaguide * Picasso Headline (pty) Ltd.


Digital

Avusa created a network of its own websites, named Times Media Live, in 2010. In 2011 this network began to expand from three sites to 21 in 2014, made up mostly of disparate websites within the Group (Times Live, Sowetan Live,Sowetan Live
/ref> BDLIVE, Financial Mail, HeraldLive and more) including the African representation of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
''. In doing so, Times Media Live became the second-largest publisher network and thereafter, Times Live the second largest website in South Africa. Times Media Live was the first large media-owned publisher to reach profitability in the 2013 financial year. In 2014 '' The Rand Daily Mail'' was resuscitated as an online-only brand. Picasso Headline currently publishes: *'' African Leader —'' Quarterly magazine published on behalf of the Black Management Forum (BMF) *''SA Schools and Tertiary Collection —'' An annual directory of SA schools and tertiary institutions *'' Rock, Surf and Deep RSD —'' A monthly on-shelf salt water fishing magazine, including African Angling Destinations Guides *''
Voice of Local Government The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound productio ...
—'' Quarterly magazine published on behalf of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) *'' Digest of SA Architecture —'' Annual magazine showcasing projects of the year, published on behalf of the SA Institute of Architects (SAIA), primarily for its members *'' Architecture SA —'' Alternate monthly magazine published on behalf of the SA Institute of Architects (SAIA), primarily for its members *'' New Agenda —'' A quarterly magazine published on behalf of the Institute for African Alternatives. This publication is the South African Journal of Social and Economic Policy. *'' SA Banker —'' Quarterly magazine published on behalf of the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) and the Institute of Bankers (IOB) *Ochre Media — A film and television production company since 1999 who have produced Scandal! In April 2019, Tiso Blacksar relaunched Vrye Weekblad.


Music

* Gallo Record Company


See also

* List of South African media *
Naspers Naspers Limited (until 1998 Die Nasionale Pers) is a South African multinational internet, technology and multimedia holding company headquartered in Cape Town. The company has interests in online retail, publishing, real estate, and ventu ...
*
Independent News and Media Mediahuis Ireland (formerly Independent News and Media, or INM) is a Belgian/Dutch-owned media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites in ...
* Caxton/CTP


References


External links

* {{Authority control Companies based in Johannesburg Mass media companies of South Africa Mass media companies established in 2019