Canal+ $2.9bn buyout offer fair, reasonable — MultiChoice

South Africa’s cable Television company, MultiChoice, on Tuesday, said it considers the $2.9 billion buyout offer made by French TV channel, Canal+ Group, to be “fair and reasonable”.

According to Reuters, this was revealed by an independent board set up by the South African company on the deal.

Canal+, a top shareholder in MultiChoice with a 45.2 per cent stake, had on February 2, 2024 reportedly made a proposal to buy the remaining shares at the South African firm at $1.69 billion.

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The South African company, however, turned down the offer but Canal+ returned in April to increase the offer to take over to $2.9 billion.

“Canal+ made a firm offer of 125 rands in cash per MultiChoice share, or about 35 billion rands ($1.88 billion), which valued the company at about 55 billion rands,” the report read.

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“While the offer is expected to close by April 2025, there are two major hurdles to the deal even if its shareholders vote in favour.

“One is the fact that the deal will have to be approved by the country’s antitrust regulator, the competition commission, which will also factor in the “public interest” of such a deal.

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“Secondly, a potentially larger hurdle is South Africa’s electronic communications Act, which prohibits foreign entities from holding more than 20 percent of the voting rights of a local broadcasting rights holder.”