The end of the affiliation contract, which gave licensed usage of the Octagon brand and intellectual property exchange, is the culmination of a process that began in 2013 with a buyout of Octagon Global's ownership interest in the South Africa operations by the South African shareholders.
The 2013 buyout was informed by a desire from the local management team to change the ownership structure of the business and to transform its core mandate from a specialist sponsorship engagement company to an integrated marketing agency that also owns a portfolio of sports, entertainment, and lifestyle properties.
Qondisa Ngwenya, CEO of Republicom and former CEO of Octagon Africa, says, "This is a bittersweet moment for us. We have enjoyed a 23-year, close-working partnership with Octagon. The Octagon brand in South Africa and the rest of the continent has, over the years, been associated with some of Africa’s leading brands, which Octagon has contributed to building their brand prominence and household affinity."
"With rapid changes in our industry, resulting from the increasing demands of clients for more integrated marketing solutions and the convergence of media platforms driven by technology developments, we have identified an opportunity to redirect the focus of the business," adds Ngwenya.
"Ownership became the first central pillar of the strategic process of evolving the agency. Octagon responded positively and we could conduct a buyout. The end of the affiliation agreement is the culmination of that process," says Ngwenya.
Republicom South Africa is part of the Republicom Group, with an established footprint in Nigeria, which will soon be expanding to Kenya. It builds on a solid client and infrastructure base in South Africa and on the broader African continent.
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