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ARTICLE · 06 MARCH 2025

Telling The Right Story: Navigating Media Challenges In M&A Transactions

"News is the first draft of history". This quote is often attributed to Washington Post publisher Phillip L. Graham by many media sources.

CanadaCorporate/Commercial Law

"News is the first draft of history". This quote is often attributed to Washington Post publisher Phillip L. Graham by many media sources. Graham, born in 1915, couldn't possibly have come up with an early 20th century quote. Many others attribute it to writer Alan Barth, who would have been a toddler around the time this quote became prominent. These examples are a reminder that, when repeated often enough, inaccurate statements from prominent sources can misrepresent history. Reporting on M&A transactions is no different.

In November 2024, South African Airways (SAA) announced that it had turned a profit for the first time since the 2012 financial year.1 Many asked how a company that was nearly sold for R51 just a few years prior could be doing so well. The answer to this question is simple: this never happened. There was never a transaction where the national carrier would have been sold for R51.

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