The approval will clear the way to make it the largest pay-TV and streaming business on the continent.
Canal+ received South African anti-trust approval to buy MultiChoice Group, which will clear the way to make it the largest pay-TV and streaming business on the continent.
The deal got the go-ahead from the anti-trust watchdog this week, enabling a transaction that values MultiChoice at about R52.7bn ($3 billion). Canal+ has been buying up stock in the market since announcing the deal in 2024, and will now purchase the rest from shareholders.
The parties are on track to complete the offer before the so-called long-stop date of October 8, they said in a statement.
Formed in South Africa in 1985, MultiChoice expanded across the continent in the early 1990s with packages including live English football matches and local shows. The company was spun off from Naspers in 2019 and offers the French broadcaster access to additional markets, including South Africa, which has the continent’s biggest economy and film-making hub.
The newly formed entity could also list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and conclude a broad-based Black economic-empowerment deal as part of the agreed transaction. The combined operation will create a group with almost 50 million subscribers and the resources to invest more in local content and sports.
Source: Moneyweb
