Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Canal+ group, owned by Vivendi, announced on Thursday that it had submitted an offer to acquire South African Pay TV company, MultiChoice, the owners of DSTV.
Canal Plus is currently the top shareholder in MultiChoice with a 31.67 per cent stake, and is now seeking a full control.
“The Canal+ Group confirms that it has submitted to the board of directors of MultiChoice a letter containing a non-binding indicative offer with a view to acquiring all of the issued ordinary shares of MultiChoice that it does not yet hold,” the company indicates in a press release .
Canal+ specified that it would make an offer of 105 Rand (€5.19) per ordinary share of MultiChoice, paid in cash.
This price represents a premium of 40 per cent compared to the closing price of MultiChoice’s shares on Wednesday, adds the group.
Canal+, which is preparing its stock market listing after the announcement of the proposed split from its parent company Vivendi, also aims with this transaction to obtain a listing in South Africa.
The firm said its current offer is non-binding and indicative and that once due diligence has been completed, it intends to deliver a letter of firm intention to MultiChoice’s board.
MultiChoice, which operates in 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, said it has received a letter from the French media company and would update shareholders should there be any further developments.
“For MultiChoice to continue to thrive in Africa it will require a strategy that enhances its scale as well as strengthened local and global expertise. Our potential offer, if successful, would be an important next step for MultiChoice to realise its full potential,” Mr Maxime Saada, chairman and CEO of Canal+, said in the statement.
He added that the deal would give MultiChoice the resources to invest in scale, local African talent and stories.
As part of MultiChoice’s efforts to fight off competition, it partnered last year with Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky to revamp MultiChoice’s existing Showmax streaming service, which now offers live Premier League content.
