After Canal+’s ownership holding in MultiChoice crossed the 35% mark, the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) of South Africa mandated that the French broadcaster proceed with a forced offer to the company’s ordinary shareholders. This decision requires Canal+ to immediately submit an offer for the remaining MultiChoice shares it does not own, in compliance with the Companies Act of 2008 and the JSE Listings Requirements.
The compulsory offer will come after Canal+’s first, three-week-old, $1.7 billion proposal for the outstanding shares. MultiChoice informed its shareholders in a release dated February 1 that it believed the Group and its prospects for the future were materially undervalued at the proposed offer price of R105 in cash.
However, according to the Takeover Regulation Panel’s ruling on Wednesday, MultiChoice’s initial $1.7 billion offer was illegally disclosed to the public. As a result, the broadcaster was given a compliance warning. MultiChoice has declared its plan to challenge this ruling in court.
Canal+ has increased its focus on Africa over the last ten years, and as a result, its subscriber base has grown significantly, from one million Africans in 2016 to 7.6 million in 2023. In July 2019, ROK Studios, a well-known Nigerian film production firm, was purchased by Canal+ from IrokoTV to strengthen its original content offerings.
