Merger creates empowerment giant in PR

The new company, with billings in the region of R15 million, will be housed at the current premises of Integrated Communications.bmc in Hyde Park.
 
Comments, Johanna McDowell, CEO of the newly merged entity, "We have searched for the right partners with the right profile and the right business strengths for some years and at last Matigari found us.
 
"Matigari has a strong track record, some excellent clients and journalistic strengths within the business. These attributes complement those of Integrated Communications.bmc and immediately empower us to jump into new arenas of business where we have been unable to compete to date," she continues.
 
Integrated Communications.bmc has a considerable reputation in the PR, design and marketing communications field and has built a track record of success since its inception in 1992.
 
Matigari was formed by Ramotena Mabote and Gugulethu Maqetuka some seven years ago and has built a strong profile among government and parastatal entities.
 
Both companies began their relationship by submitting tenders on a joint venture basis for key government contracts.
 
Says Mabote, who will be the Chairman of Matigari Integrated.bmc: "It quickly became obvious to both parties that there was the strong possibility of more solid relationship based on the fact that both companies had successful histories, both had good clients, both had good reputations and staff members.
 
"Matigari has been working on growing itself to a strong entity, but did not want to do this by just bloating the organisation with people and numbers, but by finding a suitable partner with operational strengths. And in Integrated we found that and more."
 
McDowell concludes, "The PR and communications industry is made up of a few big players and a number of smaller companies. It is very competitive and fragmented and very few of the medium size companies are black empowered. The smaller competitors are often black owned but suffer from a lack of infrastructure. They therefore win business quite easily but are unable to maintain or retain it.
 
"We believe that this transaction will propel us into a powerful position within our industry giving us an edge over many other companies and allowing us to develop from a solid base into a successful future."