The French multimedia conglomerate Canal+ has been progressively acquiring shares in Multichoice, inching closer to owning a 50% stake in the company.
On Tuesday, May 14th, Canal+ publicly disclosed that it had executed three separate share purchase transactions within the preceding week. These transactions have effectively raised Canal+’s ownership in the South African media conglomerate to 45.2%.
Specifically, Canal+ has secured an additional 7,374,918 shares of MultiChoice through a combination of on-market and off-market dealings.
These include:
- On Wednesday, 8 May 2024, Canal+ acquired 4,709,759 MultiChoice Shares for an average consideration of ZAR 119,66 per MultiChoice Share
- On Thursday, 9 May 2024, Canal+ acquired 387,354 MultiChoice Shares for an average consideration of ZAR 119,44 per MultiChoice Share
- On Friday, 10 May 2024, Canal+ acquired 2,277,805 MultiChoice Shares for an average consideration of ZAR 119,68 per MultiChoice Share
Following the completion of the recent transactions, Canal+ will possess approximately 45.20% of the total issued shares of MultiChoice, as confirmed by the company.
Canal+ has also reported these acquisitions to the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) in compliance with the mandatory disclosure requirements stipulated by the Companies Act.
Since the announcement that Canal+’s stake in MultiChoice had exceeded the 40% threshold, Canal+ has been consistently reporting its on-market purchases of MultiChoice stock to the TRP on a weekly basis.
Canal+ has proposed a purchase offer for all shares of MultiChoice at a price of R125 per share. This offer is currently under consideration by an independent board that has been established by MultiChoice to evaluate the proposal.
The group has indicated its intention to potentially acquire additional shares of MultiChoice while its takeover offer is active. Should further acquisitions necessitate disclosure under the Companies Act or Takeover Regulations, Canal+ has committed to making the necessary disclosures and announcements.
However, it is improbable that Canal+ will surpass the 50% ownership threshold through these incremental share purchases, as such a move would constitute a merger according to the Competition Act. This would necessitate prior approval from the Competition Tribunal before proceeding.
MultiChoice has previously clarified that if Canal+ were to purchase shares at a price exceeding R125 each, it would be obligated to increase its offer price accordingly.
