 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1896; 129 years ago (1896)[1] |
| Founder | Michael Davis and Albert Lindbergh |
| Headquarters | , |
| Services | stationery retail |
| Revenue | R2 billion (2015)[2] |
| R614 million (2015)[2] | |
| R35 million (2015)[2] | |
| Owner | Edcon |
| Parent | Edcon |
| Website | cna.co.za |
Central News Agency orConsolidated News Agencies, better known simply asCNA, was a South African retail chain of stationery and book stores.
Founded in 1896 to sell newspapers in Johannesburg by using newspaper delivery boys on foot and bicycles, CNA initially focused on sellingThe Star,The Standard and theDiggers News newspapers. A breakthrough for the company came in 1902 whenThe Argus and theCape Times newspapers granted a contract to the company to publish all of their newspapers. By 1904, the company had stores across South Africa and continued to expand to meet demand for news duringWorld War I. The company was floated on theJohannesburg Stock Exchange in 1903 to raise £120,000[3] (equivalent to £129,500,000 in 2017 based on its economic share).[4]
By 1928, the company was publishing most of South Africa's newspapers. Shortly after World War II, the company expanded by opening outlets inRhodesia (present day Zimbabwe).[3] In 1983, CNA merged with Gallo Africa to form CNA Gallo. The company acquired South African cinema chainNu Metro in 1990 and proceeded to fully buy it out in 1992.[3] By 1995, the company had 350 stores across South Africa.[3] The company was acquired by Wooltru in 1995 for R500 million.[5]
A difficult retail market for stationery and books in the mid to late 1990s and internal restructuring put the company under financial pressure.[6] This led to it and its remaining 130 outlets being sold toEdcon in 2002 for R130 million.[7]
Companies based inGreater Johannesburg | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Diversified conglomerates | |||
| Airlines |
| ||
| Construction and engineering | |||
| Energy | |||
| Financial |
| ||
| Hospitality | |||
| ICT | |||
| Legal | |||
| Manufacturing |
| ||
| Media | |||
| Mining | |||
| Retail and marketing | |||
| Restaurant franchises | |||
| Services | |||
| Transport | |||
| State-owned enterprises | |||
 | This South African corporation or company article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
