Canal+ Eyes Showmax Acquisition After Multichoice Take Over

Canal+ is mulling the possibility of buying out the remaining stake in African streaming platform, Showmax, from Comcast Corporation.

According to Bloomberg, this is part of efforts by the French media firm to consolidate its operations on the continent after it bought controlling stakes in Multichoice, the owners of GOtv and DStv, which owns the rest of Showmax.

Currently, the company is working with advisers on the potential purchase of Comcast’s 30 per cent stake in Showmax, which is the largest streaming platform in Africa.

The people familiar with discussions also told the publication that the considerations are preliminary and there’s no guarantee they would lead to a transaction.

Comcast acquired the stake in Showmax from MultiChoice through its NBCUniversal unit in 2023, and relaunched the streaming service last year on its Peacock streaming platform.

An acquisition could offer support to Showmax which competes with other large streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon’s Prime on the continent. Unlike the latter duo, Showmax is only available in Africa with a presence in 44 countries including Nigeria.

Canal+ is moving ahead with its plans for a secondary inward listing on South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) after taking full control of Showmax’s owner MultiChoice last month.

Canal+ now holds 94.39 per cent of MultiChoice’s shares and will acquire the remaining stake under Section 124(1) of South Africa’s Companies Act, which permits compulsory acquisition when an offer has been accepted by shareholders holding more than 90 per cent of target shares.

MultiChoice shares will be suspended from trading on JSE and A2X beginning Monday, October 27, with complete delisting expected on December 10, subject to regulatory approvals.

Remaining MultiChoice shareholders have until December 5 to exercise their rights to apply to a court regarding the acquisition. After this date, Canal+ will proceed with the compulsory purchase at the same terms and consideration as the original offer.

The transaction has received necessary regulatory approvals, including from South Africa’s Financial Surveillance Department.

The payment to remaining shareholders will be made on December 5, with unclaimed funds held in trust according to legal requirements.