A month after severing its relationship with local gossip site Ghafla, Ringier Africa has unveiled its own news and entertainment website. PLive, shorthand for Pulse Live, went live on Monday, Jan. 23, marking the end of the Swiss media firm’s quest to buy an established online portal in Kenya.
Ringier had initially tried to acquire Ghafla but the deal fell through after a three-month marriage. Ringier is said to have pulled out of the deal when some numbers Ghafla had used to bargain in the acquisition failed to add up.
With no viable option in the market, Ringier Africa was forced to come up with PLive. A statement from the company said that PLive will be “an independent, nonpartisan news and entertainment publisher” for the East African region. It will cover local and internationally news and entertainment.
This is the form Ghafla had taken under Ringier management, under a new design. After the breakup, Ghafla reverted to its old site while Ringier has adopted that design for PLive.
Tim Kollmann, Managing Director of Ringier Africa Digital Publishing stated said Pulse is a trusted publisher in Nigeria and Ghana. PLive has partnered with popular US business site, Business Insider, which is providing business-related content.
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“With PLive, we are now proud to be expanding these values to Kenya and the wider East African region, relying on international and local partners we collaborate with and are introducing to a large audience in the region,” he said. “The continued expansion of our publishing activities reflects the growing market for smart, insightful and quality journalism and content in Africa.”
The move its part of the e-commerce growth plan, it said. In Ghana and Kenya, Ringier Africa Digital Publishing (RADP) sister company, Ringier Africa Deals Group (RADG) discount ecommerce platforms Tisu and Rupu will merge with P Promos respectively, and will move beyond early-stage e-commerce to offer merchants new ways of reaching a large customer base, under the PPromos brand.
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