Caxton And Ctp Publishers And Printers Ltd

What Caxton And Ctp Publishers And Printers Ltd does

Caxton and CTP Publishers and Printers Limited is a South African publicly listed media and manufacturing group founded in 1980 by Terry Moolman and Noel Coburn, headquartered in Johannesburg with approximately 5,500 employees. The group operates across publishing, commercial printing, packaging, stationery, and digital assets, with nine wholly-owned operating subsidiaries including CTP Printers Johannesburg, CTP Gravure Durban, CTP Printers Cape Town, House of Print, CTP Stationery, Flip File, Hive Digital Media, Private Property, Cognition Holdings, and Spark Media. Its publishing portfolio encompasses more than 140 community newspapers distributed across the majority of South Africa's nine provinces, the daily newspaper The Citizen, Farmer's Weekly (the country's oldest agricultural magazine), and 12 Get It community lifestyle magazines with a combined verified circulation of 237,000 — together generating a weekly print order exceeding 3.7 million copies. Owned commercial printing infrastructure features a WIFAG 72-page press at 35,000 revolutions per hour, heatset commercial web offset capacity of 50,000 to over 3 million copies per job, sheetfed offset using ManRoland, Heidelberg and KBA multi-unit machines, and computer-to-plate pre-press with automated colour correction. The group derives revenue from newspaper and magazine advertising, subscriptions, commercial print contracts (notably with multi-national retailers and major magazine publishers such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Woman & Home, Finesse, CAR, Rooi Rose, Garden & Home, and Your Family), packaging manufacturing, stationery sales (anchored by the genericised Flip File brand), and digital advertising through Hive Digital Media and Spark Media. The Citizen, Farmer's Weekly, and Get It magazines carry combined readership across daily, agricultural, and lifestyle categories, while Private Property (founded 1998) and Cognition Holdings extend the group into digital property listings and permission-based marketing under POPIA compliance.

Name

Caxton And Ctp Publishers And Printers Ltd

Legal name

Caxton and CTP Publishers and Printers Limited

Website

https://caxton.co.za

Company type

Public

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Caxton and CTP is a South African listed media and manufacturing group operating community newspapers, The Citizen daily, Farmer's Weekly, Get It magazines, plus commercial printing, packaging, stationery (Flip File), and digital assets (Private Property, Hive Digital Media, Cognition Holdings) serving advertisers, retailers, and publishers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Printing and Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Periodical Publishers (513120), Commercial Printing (except Screen and Books) (323111), Directory and Mailing List Publishers (513140)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Commercial Printing (2750), Book Printing (2732)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

National & General-Interest Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAA), News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)

Keywords

• Commercial printing services
• Newspaper publishing
• Magazine publishing
• Packaging manufacturing
• Stationery manufacturing

Headquarters

HQ city

Johannesburg

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Publishing Revenue: Revenue from publishing regional community newspapers, The Citizen daily newspaper, Farmer's Weekly magazine, Get It local magazines, and related digital channels. Income derived from advertising, subscriptions and inserts.
2. Commercial Printing: Commercial printing services including newspapers, tabloids, magazines, retail newspaper supplements and pamphlets for multi-national retailers. Revenue from print service contracts.
3. Packaging: Packaging manufacturing operations as part of the group's diversified offerings.
4. Stationery Manufacturing: Stationery manufacture including Flip File brand plastic pocket files and CTP Stationery products.
5. Digital Platforms: Revenue from digital platforms including Private Property (property listings), Hive Digital Media (digital advertising), and Cognition Holdings (data and marketing services).
6. Book Printing: Book printing services as part of the group's comprehensive print capabilities.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Caxton and CTP publishes regional community newspapers, The Citizen daily newspaper, Farmer's Weekly magazine, and Get It community magazines, alongside commercial printing, packaging, stationery manufacturing, and book printing. The company operates national printing plants in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban providing heatset web offset, sheetfed offset, gravure, and digital print services, plus digital assets for property listings, advertising, and data-driven marketing.

Product overview

Caxton & CTP Publishers and Printers Ltd is a major South African publishing, printing, packaging, and stationery manufacturing company founded in 1980. The company operates through several divisions: Publishing (offering over 140 community newspapers under the Caxton Local Newspapers brand, The Citizen daily newspaper, Farmer's Weekly magazine, and Get It Community Magazines, supported by Spark Media for advertising solutions and Hive Digital Media for digital platforms); Printing (with facilities in Durban, Johannesburg, and Cape Town offering commercial web offset, sheetfed offset, digital printing, and book/diary printing under brands including CTP Gravure, CTP Printers, and House of Print); Stationery (CTP Stationery and Flipfile brand for plastic pocket files); and Digital Assets (Cognition Holdings for marketing strategies, Private Property property platform, and Hive Digital Media). The company employs approximately 5,500 people and is recognized as one of the largest publishers and printers in South Africa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Citizen: Flagship daily newspaper carrying quality content across various editorial pillars
• Farmer's Weekly
• Spark Media
• Get It
• Flip File
• CTP Stationery
• Hive Digital Media
• Private Property
• Cognition Holdings

Products and services

• Caxton Local Newspapers Network of over 140 community newspapers delivering a combined weekly print order exceeding 3.7 million copies, providing hyper-local news coverage across most provinces in South Africa.
• The Citizen Flagship daily newspaper carrying quality content across various editorial pillars, including dedicated soccer and parenting columns that reach niche audiences.
• Farmer's Weekly Oldest agricultural magazine in South Africa, providing weekly news and information on the latest developments in the agricultural sector for farmers across the country.
• Get It Community Magazines Twelve hyper-local high-quality glossy lifestyle publications with combined circulation of 237,000, covering Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Northwest, KwaZulu Natal, and Free State.
• CTP Gravure Durban Specialises in long-run magazine printing and commercial brochures with over 30 years experience. Operates the flagship WIFAG 72-page press at an average speed of 35,000 revolutions per hour, producing titles such as Finesse, Woman & Home, Your Family, Garden & Home, Rooi Rose, Glamour, CAR and Cosmopolitan.
• CTP Printers Johannesburg High quality heatset commercial web offset printing facility with capacity from 50,000 to over 3 million copies per job. Features latest pre-press technology including computer-to-plate technology, remote digital proofing, and automated colour correction control.
• CTP Printers Cape Town Sheetfed offset printing operation using ultra-modern, high-speed ManRoland, Heidelberg and KBA multi-unit machines. Focus areas include books, diaries, magazines, commercial printing, and newspapers.
• House of Print Digital print to CTP-enabled litho print services operating since 1968 in Johannesburg. Provides through-the-line services with owner-run management for uncompromised full range of print marketing solutions.
• CTP Stationery Stationery manufacturing division producing high-quality stationery products for South African clients and providing superior returns to shareholders.
• Flip File South Africa's leading plastic pocket file brand, founded in 1970, renowned for robust, high-quality files designed to be hard-wearing. The brand is so well known that South Africans refer to all plastic pocket files as flip files.
• CTP Packaging Packaging manufacturing division providing customer turnkey packaging solutions as part of the group's diversified offerings.
• Private Property Property buying and renting platform founded in 1998 as the first property brand of its kind in South Africa. Provides tools and comprehensive property listings for buyers and renters.
• Hive Digital Media Cutting-edge digital agency representing all local Caxton newspapers' websites as well as a solution for partner platforms. Operates over 54 local community title websites providing hyper-local digital content alongside print newspapers.
• Cognition Holdings Builds permission-based marketing strategies to enhance singular customer profiles with deep granularity in line with privacy legislation. Uses technology to collect data, add content and meaning, and provide insights, inferences and experiences.
• Spark Media Advertising and media-solutions company representing local Caxton newspapers, The Citizen, Get It magazines and related digital channels, as well as select independent publications in southern Africa. Specialises in data analytics and customer growth and retention.

Quantifiable outcome

• 35,000 revolutions per hour printing speed
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.

• Spark MediacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSpark Media is the advertising and media-solutions company representing Caxton local newspapers, Get It magazines, The Citizen and related digital channels, as well as select independent publications in southern Africa. Specialising in data analytics and customer growth and retention through intelligent use of data.
• Hive Digital MediacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHive Digital Media is the cutting-edge digital agency representing all local newspapers' websites as well as a solution for partner platforms. Operates over 54 local community title websites.
• Cognition HoldingsstrategicTechnology or IntegrationCognition Holdings builds permission-based marketing strategies to enhance singular customer profiles with deep granularity in line with privacy legislation. Uses technology to establish a new asset class by collecting data, adding content and meaning to create information and providing insights, inferences and experiences.
• Private PropertystrategicTechnology or IntegrationFounded in 1998, Private Property was the first property brand of its kind in South Africa. Provides tools for property buyers and renters with comprehensive property listings and information.
• CTP PackagingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTP Packaging is a division of Caxton & CTP providing packaging manufacturing solutions. The packaging division offers customer turnkey packaging solutions as part of the group's diversified offerings.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Reach plc: Reach plc is the UK's largest regional newspaper publisher (Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Manchester Evening News, etc.). It is a comparable regional/print-first newspaper group navigating the same print-to-digital transition as Caxton, useful as a strategic analogue though operating in a different geography.

Direct peers

• Media24 (Naspers subsidiary): Media24 is Naspers' South African print and digital media division, publishing major newspapers (Die Burger, Beeld, Daily Maverick acquired) and magazines. It is the most direct competitor to Caxton's newspaper and magazine publishing operations in SA; the 2024 interdict by Caxton against Media24 underscores direct rivalry.
• Independent Media: Independent Media publishes IOL, The Star, Cape Argus, and Pretoria News, competing head-to-head in the daily and regional newspaper market against The Citizen and Caxton's community network. Comparable SA-listed/operated newspaper group with similar regulatory exposure to POPIA and BBBEE.
• Novus Holdings: Novus Holdings is a JSE-listed South African printing and packaging group with commercial printing, labels, and tissue converting operations. It is a directly comparable printing peer competing for the same commercial print, retail insert, and packaging contracts that CTP Printers and CTP Gravure serve.
• Arena Holdings (formerly Tiso Blackstar): Arena Holdings is a South African media company publishing Business Day, Sunday Times, Daily Dispatch, and other titles, plus lifestyle magazines. It directly competes with Caxton's daily newspaper (The Citizen), Farmer's Weekly-style trade titles, and lifestyle magazine (Get It) segments.

Broad incumbents

• Gannett Co. Gannett is the largest US newspaper publisher (USA TODAY, hundreds of local titles). While much larger and US-focused, it is a structural analogue: a regional/community newspaper portfolio pivoting to digital subscriptions and advertising under secular print decline.
• Primedia: Primedia is a major South African media group spanning radio (702, CapeTalk), out-of-home advertising, and digital. It competes for advertising budgets with Caxton's Spark Media and competes broadly for audience attention, though it is not a print publisher.
• News Corp Australia: News Corp Australia publishes major metropolitan, regional, and community newspapers (The Australian, Herald Sun, various regional titles) plus commercial printing via News Corp Print. It is a broader incumbent peer operating a similar community-newspaper-plus-commercial-print model at greater scale and with digital adjacencies.
• eMedia Investments: eMedia is a South African broadcaster (eNCA, e.tv) and content producer. While primarily broadcast, it competes for news audiences and digital advertising against Caxton's publishing portfolio, making it a broad-incumbent media peer in the SA market.
• Cimpress plc (Vista): Cimpress operates mass-customisation printing platforms (Vista, Print.com, WIRIS). It is a broad commercial printing incumbent, relevant as a comparable for Caxton's CTP Printers commercial division serving retail and SME customers with multi-format print.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Caxton And Ctp Publishers And Printers Ltd