According to insiders, South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe is in talks with Vivendi SE’s Canal+ to jointly bid for MultiChoice Group worth billions of dollars.
Multichoice rejected Canal+’s initial bid. Bloomberg stated that adding South Africa’s wealthiest Black individual might help the French media conglomerate meet the country’s strict Black ownership criteria.
Both Canal+ and Motsepe’s investment firm, African Rainbow Capital, declined to comment. However, insiders noted that conversations are still in the early stages, and there is no guarantee that an agreement would be reached.
Canal+ has acquired a stake of more than 35% in MultiChoice, South Africa’s largest pay-TV company, necessitating a required takeover bid.
If the French broadcaster successfully navigates South Africa’s constraints on foreign media ownership, it will get greater access to African markets, which have the world’s fastest-growing and youngest populations.
Canal+ is poised to submit a formal bid for MultiChoice at 125 rand per share, valuing the company at over 55 billion rand ($2.9 billion), by April 8, for approval by the board’s independent members, according to sources.
MultiChoice was founded in South Africa in 1985 and extended throughout Africa in the early 1990s, offering packages such as live English football events and local programming. The company was spun off from Naspers Ltd. in 2019. It also owns Showmax, a popular video-streaming service and Netflix Inc. competitor.
Multichoice, which serves 50 African countries, has been aggressive in its efforts to fend off competition from multinationals like Netflix and Amazon. This is seen in MultiChoice’s campaign to invest in local content.
Canal+’s CEO and Chairman stated that the acquisition would provide Multichoice with the resources to increase its investment in local content.
Vivendi intends to merge its local Canal+ operations with MultiChoice, resulting in a group with around 50 million members and more resources to invest in local content and sports.