New majority shareholder for Jacaranda 94.2fm

ICASA also approved Jacaranda 94.2fm's foreign investor, Lagardere Active Radio International, increasing its shareholding from 15% to 20%, and the introduction of Tiso Private Equity as a new shareholder for the remaining 20%.

Mike Siluma, CEO of Jacaranda 94.2fm, says the station looks forward to the benefits of belonging to a focused radio group, where it can benefit from a pool of radio skills. (Kagiso Media wholly owns East Coast Radio and 24,9% of OFM, with a 47,5% share of national radio advertising sales house RadMark.)

Kagiso Media's CEO, Roger Jardine, says the company can now practically implement its strategy "to attain growth through solid radio assets that offer excellent products to advertisers and strong cash flows to shareholders".

Jacaranda 94.2fm certainly fits the bill. In the six month period to December 2003, it grew revenues by 18% and its contribution to Kagiso Media's headline earnings by 29% to R11.3m. Jacaranda 94.2fm has also grown its listenership in the last six years from approximately 600 000 when the station was privatized, to 2.394 million (SAARF RAMS 2004/2 March-May). In 2003, the growth in listeners was 35% over the comparative period (2002), and revenue was up 17% to R140m.

In the last three years, the station has grown its share of market in every province where it broadcasts. In Gauteng, its audience has grown by 18%, while its share of the desirable affluent consumer base (LSM 6-10) has grown by 17%, offering further value to advertisers. It is the largest independent radio station in South Africa and broadcasts in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the North-West Province.