Multichoice and French media company Canal+ have reached an agreement by which Canal+ would acquire the Multichoice group, offering shareholders R125.00 per share – a 66,6% premium over the R75.00 closing price on 1 February 2024.
The announcement constitutes a firm intention announcement by Canal+ to acquire – either itself or through a wholly owned subsidiary for which Canal+ shall be ultimately responsible – all of the issued ordinary MultiChoice shares it doesn’t already hold, and excluding Treasury shares.
Today’s offer is the culmination of an earlier bid by Canal+ to buy out Multichoice, and then the acquisition, on the open market, of more than 35% of the group’s shares.
In terms of this offer, MultiChoice has constituted an independent board, with the Standard Bank of South Africa as an independent expert to review the terms of the Offer and express a fair and reasonable opinion as required in terms of Regulation 90 of the Takeover Regulations.
At close of business on 5 April 2024, Canal+ held approximately 162 092 774 issued MultiChoice shares in aggregate, representing an ownership interest of approximately 36,6%. On 7 April 2024, MultiChoice and Canal+ entered into a mutual co-operation agreement as regards relating to today’s offer.
Implementation of the offer will be subject to the fulfilment or, where applicable, waiver of certain suspensive conditions.
Canal+ aims to build a global entertainment leader, with Africa at its heart, combining scale, complementary geographies, integrated and international reach with strong local roots, that will support the commercial development of Africa’s sporting and cultural industries and take leading and authentic African stories to a global audience.
The group believes that the competitive landscape for Africa’s media and entertainment industry will continue to undergo profound changes as the continent rapidly adopts broadband and mobile Internet. International media companies and global OTT platforms (including Netflix, YouTube, Disney and Apple TV+), will increasingly be able to use their scale and resources to expand internationally beyond their existing markets, increasing their focus on Africa and thereby challenging local rivals.
It believes a combined group would be better positioned to address key structural challenges and opportunities resulting from the progressive digitalisation and globalisation of the media and entertainment sector, the respective strengths of Canal+ and MultiChoice could form a global entertainment business with Africa at its heart.
By combining with Canal+, in addition to operating in over 50 countries across Africa, MultiChoice would be part of a broader group, present across Africa, Europe and Asia.