Media24 boss Ishmet Davidson is stepping down, having made sweeping changes at the Naspers owned publisher in the last year, with immediate effect.
The group did not disclose reasons for the hasty exit, merely calling it retirement.
This comes as the group is selling its media logistics business, On the Dot, and its community newspaper portfolio to Novus Holdings subject to regulatory approvals. Rival publisher Caxton has made a competing offer for the assets.
Media24’s board announced on Thursday that Davidson “will retire” as group CEO and step down as a board member, effective September 9.
He will be succeeded by Raj Lalbahadur, currently the group CFO, as interim CEO, while remaining involved in the company “in an advisory capacity”.
Davidson was appointed CEO in October 2018 following a three-decade career in media and publishing. He joined the group in 2012 as head of community newspapers going on to become head of its news division in 2014, after which On the Dot and Lifestyle were added to his responsibilities as Media24’s first CEO for print media.
In a statement, the soon-to-be former CEO said: “Although I look forward to my retirement, I’m sad to be leaving Media24. The company has always been at the vanguard of exceptional journalism as well as business and media innovation, and able to adapt timeously to the ever-evolving media landscape. This was made possible by the guidance and support of the board of directors and our chair, Prof Rachel Jafta, for which I thank them with much appreciation.”
Lalbahadur, inherits — at least in the interim — a group going through huge changes instituted under Davidson’s watch.
In mid-June Media24 said it was seeking to close the print editions of five newspapers, transitioning three of them into digital-only brands, placing 400 jobs at risk. Print editions on the block are Beeld, Rapport, City press, Daily Sun and Soccer Laduma, as well as the digital editions of Volksblad and Die Burger Oos-Kaap and digital hub SNL24.
As digital brands, the affected print publications will reside on the group’s Netwerk24 and News24 platforms.
Naspers said the 2024 financial year was turbulent, with Media24 recording mixed results. Shortfalls in media revenue, led by a contraction in digital advertising and shrinking circulations, ate into the company’s bottom line.
Media24’s revenue for the year to end-March declined 16% to $182m, while a trading profit plunged from $7m to $2m.
The group has rejected Caxton’s advances saying it will not renege on its agreement with Novus.
Still, the group is willing to entertain an offer from Caxton, or another party, only for the Beeld publication “in the interest of minimising potential job losses … and keeping Beeld alive as a brand that carries sentimental value”.
This comes as the company appears to be shutting down two of SA’s best-known magazine publications, Drum and True Love — a fact that the Naspers-owned publisher has allegedly failed to disclose publicly.
Lalbahadur, who became CFO in 2023, joined Media24 in 2007 as CFO for Educor, after holding positions in, among others, the petroleum and paper-manufacturing industries and the SA Revenue Service.
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