Canal+, a French company, has offered to buy South African pay-TV gaint MultiChoice for approximately R31.7 billion ($1.7 billion).
Canal+ stated on Thursday that it has made a non-binding indicative offer to MultiChoice’s board to acquire all issued ordinary shares that it does not already own, subject to gaining the relevant regulatory permissions.
In its most recent annual report, MultiChoice disclosed that Canal+ owned 140,160,277 of its 442,512,678 issued shares.
According to local media, Canal+ has steadily purchased MultiChoice shares on the open market over the last four years, accumulating more than 30% ownership of the company.
Canal+ offered R105 per ordinary share, reflecting a 40% premium over MultiChoice’s closing share price of R75 on January 31. Canal+ would have to pay around R31.75 billion ($1.7 billion) to acquire the remaining shares.
The firm stated that the acquisition would transform MultiChoice into a global media powerhouse.
The chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the French television company, Maxime Saada, said in the statement, “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.”
Meanwhile, the French company announced its ambition to list in reaction to parent company Vivendi’s plans to split into four businesses, with the ultimate goal of listing in South Africa.
“This will allow investors to benefit from the combination of Canal+ and MultiChoice, with our ultimate goal being to also obtain a listing in South Africa,” it stated.
“It is the ambition of Canal+ to create an African media business with enhanced scale that can thrive in a competitive international market, better serve its consumers with a world-leading offering of sports and local and global content, and ensure that Africa can tell her story to a global audience on her terms.
“However, the media industry in which MultiChoice is operating is becoming increasingly globalised and competitive, with regional media companies having to compete with the firepower of global media titans with enormous resources to invest in content, marketing, and technology,” part of the statement read.
The firm said that scale was the only way to survive and thrive in the environment.
“A combination between Canal+ and MultiChoice would create a group with significant scale, putting MultiChoice on a secure long-term path and enabling the company to thrive.
“Should this combination not proceed, this lack of scale is likely to become a more acute problem in the coming years, risking the company’s status as the preeminent media company in Africa and impacting its mid-term trajectory,” the firm said.
In November 2023, MultiChoice Group stated that its user base had increased by 69% in the previous six months.
In a statement, the business stated that it met its operational targets during the six months ending September 30, 2023 (1H FY24).
Canal+ is a French premium television channel that premiered in 1984. It is wholly owned by Groupe Canal+, which is in turn owned by Vivendi.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
