MIH Internet Africa Group, the Internet arm of Naspers in Africa, confirmed that it is considering closing some non-core brands such as Style36 and 5 Rooms. The company said that it is consulting with staff.<\/p>\n
The company said that it will be placing all efforts behind Kalahari, which has had a very strong Christmas and has just introduced an advanced platform successfully.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is going to grow Kalahari aggressively over the next year,\u201d explained Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo from Africa Internet Accelerator \u2013 the company behind Style36, 5Rooms and Kinderelo.<\/p>\n
Naspers\u2019 Meloy Horn said that this process does not affect other Naspers subsidiaries with e-commerce investments in Africa, including Media24, which is focusing on fashion e-commerce.<\/p>\n
\u201cMedia24 continues to leverage its magazine titles to drive e-commerce activity, especially through fast-growing fashion vertical Spree, and is planning to expand substantially in this area,\u201d said Horn.<\/p>\n
She added that she cannot provide more details at this stage as the consultation process is on-going.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn a group basis we remain very excited about the future growth prospects for e-commerce and continue to build out our platforms in many markets around the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
This confirmation follows an earlier report that four of Naspers\u2019 eCommerce websites \u2013 SACamera, 5rooms, Kinderelo and Style36 \u2013 were taken down on Thursday 20 February 2014.<\/p>\n
All the websites currently carry a maintenance message, but industry speculation suggested that Naspers was planning to pull the plug on these ventures.<\/p>\n