MultiChoice Group has kicked off the reorganisation of its South African operations, a key condition set by the Competition Tribunal before French media giant Groupe Canal+ can proceed with its R55-billion buyout of the pay-TV operator.

In a statement to shareholders late on Monday, the company confirmed that all agreements necessary to implement the restructuring of MultiChoice South Africa Holdings have become unconditional, paving the way for the next phase of the Canal+ deal. The restructuring, long signposted by both parties, is designed to facilitate the technical and regulatory requirements of the mandatory offer from Canal+.

Canal+, which is controlled by French conglomerate Vivendi Group, first moved to acquire MultiChoice in early 2024, launching a mandatory offer to buy out minority shareholders at R125/share. TechCentral has followed the story closely from the outset, reporting on Canal+’s initial accumulation of MultiChoice shares, the back-and-forth over valuation and the eventual filing of a combined circular on 4 June 2024 that formally set out the terms of the deal.

The Competition Tribunal gave its conditional blessing to the transaction earlier this year, but only on the basis that MultiChoice’s South African operations be ring-fenced and reorganised. This was intended to safeguard local broadcasting and public interest obligations while still allowing Canal+ to consolidate its control of the wider group.

Monday’s announcement marks the official start of that restructuring. “The agreements necessary to implement the reorganisation have now become unconditional and … implementation of the various steps of the reorganisation will now commence,” MultiChoice said in its statement.

Once complete, an updated timetable for the mandatory offer will be released, setting out the next key milestones for Canal+’s takeover bid. Investors have been waiting for clarity on the timeline, particularly as global market volatility and shifting media consumption habits continue to put pressure on MultiChoice’s core pay-TV business.

Africa strategy

For Canal+, the acquisition is part of a broader African strategy. The French firm has steadily built up its stake in MultiChoice over the past few years, seeing the Johannesburg-listed group as a gateway to the continent’s fast-growing streaming and pay-TV markets. MultiChoice’s Showmax platform, which was recently relaunched with backing from Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky, is central to this ambition, providing a counterweight to global streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

The restructuring now under way is largely an internal corporate exercise, but its successful completion is critical to the fate of the deal.

Read: MultiChoice is working on a wholesale overhaul of DStv

A conclusion is now firmly in sight: after months of procedural wrangling, the pieces are finally moving into place for one of the most significant media deals in South African corporate history. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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