Caxton and CTP Publishers and Printers (JSE: CAT) is a South African newspaper company.

History

The company was founded in 1902 by William Gindra and Edward Green, two Pretoria businessmen who started a small stationery and general printing factory in Pretorius Street and named it after early English printer William Caxton. In 1947, Dr HJ van der Bijl became chairman of the board; he was the driving force behind the company going public the same year, as Caxton Ltd.

In 1961, Caxton was purchased by Eagle Press and at the same time acquired its first newspaper, the South African Jewish Times. During the same year Caxton moved its operations to Doornfontein in Johannesburg. In 1968, Caxton again changed ownership, this time to Felstar Publications. During the same year, The Germiston Eagle was introduced as a weekly supplement to the South African Jewish Times. This was the forerunner of all community newspapers in South Africa.

By 1978, Caxton were publishing the following newspapers either fortnightly, monthly or weekly: Sandton Chronicle, North Eastern Tribune, Northcliff and Blackheath Times, Randburg Sun, Southern Courier, Mayfair-Brixton, Newlands-Melville Telegraph, Rosebank Killarney Gazette and Roodepoort Record.

In 1985, Caxton acquired CTP (Cape and Transvaal Printers), a R100-million printing company. This enabled Caxton to meet the growing demand for the high-speed, high-quality printing of newspapers and magazines. Caxton/CTP (as the company became popularly known) later consolidated their various subsidiary companies under the CTP banner and, post-1994, formed a partnership with the National Empowerment Consortium (NEC).

Caxton and another publisher, Perskor, merged in July 1998, forming a company with a turnover in excess of ZAR R2 billion a year. As a result of the merger The Citizen, a daily newspaper, was also acquired.

Magazines

Caxton/CTP's magazine division publishes fifteen titles in the following sectors: family magazines, women's magazines, home, lifestyle and decor, lifestyle and entertainment, religion and farming. Of them, Bona, Country Life, Essentials, Food & Home, Garden & Home, People, Rooi Rose, Vrouekeur, Woman & Home and Your Family were all closed by the company in May 2020.^[1]

Newspapers

Caxton/CTP's newspaper division either owns or co-owns 88 titles, although a significant number of these are free community newspapers. The division's newspapers operate from fifty offices in eight of South Africa's nine provinces and have a combined print run of over two million copies.

Websites

Of the five newspaper titles which Caxton is involved with, 72 titles have websites which are regularly updated. This group of sites is known as the Local News Network; a network of hyperlocal websites which run daily community content. Local News Network and the success of The Citizen’s website makes Caxton the second-largest digital publisher in South Africa, as per Effective Measure statistics from August 2018. Caxton also owns Looklocal, a news aggregator which delivers hyperlocal and international content, classifieds and events listings.

List of Local News Network websites

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