French broadcasting group Canal+ has acquired more shares of Multichoice Group, bringing its total shareholding in the company to 40.01%.
The two companies disclosed this in a notice to its shareholders on Friday. The disclosure came just days after MultiChoice said Canal+ had increased its stake in the business, which owns DStv, Showmax, and SuperSport, to 36.6%.
MultiChoice has agreed to work closely with Canal+ on a mandatory offer the latter must make to the former’s shareholders. This is after Canal+ triggered a mandatory offer under South African rules by acquiring more than 35% of MultiChoice’s equity earlier this year.
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The shares acquisition
The companies disclosed that the additional shares were acquired in on/off market in a series of transactions between April 8, 2024, and April 11, 2024.
- “After the aforementioned trades are implemented, Canal+ will hold an aggregate of approximately 40,01% of the MultiChoice Shares in issue.
- “Canal+ confirms that these acquisitions have already been disclosed to MultiChoice and the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) as required under the Companies Act No. 71 of 2008 (Companies Act) and Chapter 5 of the Companies Regulations, 2011 (Takeover Regulations).
- “Save as may be prohibited under the Companies Act and the Takeover Regulations, Canal+ may acquire further MultiChoice Shares after the date of this announcement whilst the Offer remains open and, if required under the Companies Act or the Takeover Regulations, will make further disclosures and announcements in that regard,” they said.
Shareholders settlement agreement
Earlier on Monday, Canal+ and Multichoice said they had reached an agreement to pay the latter’s shareholders $6.6 (ZAR 125) per share as they forge ahead with the acquisition deal.
Recall that Multichoice had earlier rejected Canal+’s offer to acquire the company at ZAR 105 per share, saying it was undervalued. However, in the latest announcement, the two parties said:
- “Under the Offer, each participating shareholder of MultiChoice will be entitled to elect to receive ZAR 125.00 for each ordinary share of MultiChoice held, which is significantly above the minimum price of approximately ZAR 105.00 required by the Takeover Regulations,” they stated in the announcement.
Premium offer
The companies noted that the offer price of ZAR 125.00 per share represents a substantial premium of 66.66% to the closing price of ZAR 75.00 on 1 February 2024, being MultiChoice’s closing share price on the last trading day prior to the delivery of Canal+’s non-binding indicative offer.
To drive the acquisition deal, Multichoice said it has now appointed the Standard Bank of South Africa Limited as an independent expert to express a view on the fairness and reasonableness of the terms of the Offer.
On its part, Canal+ said its ambition is to build a global entertainment leader, with Africa at its heart, combining scale, complementary geographies, 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.
