Multichoice Group - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

MultiChoice will pay settlement of $37.3 mln to Nigerian tax authorities

AFRICA'S biggest pay TV company MultiChoice Group said that its subsidiaries have reached a settlement with Nigerian tax authorities and agreed to pay a total tax amount of about $37.3 million. Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) froze MultiChoice Nigeria's accounts in 2022 and served MultiChoice Group with a 1.8 trillion naira ($1.27 billion) tax claim for its Nigeria operation and a $342 million claim for value-added taxes. The group said in a statement the total tax amount of 35.4 billion naira to be paid by MultiChoice Nigeria and MultiChoice Africa Holdings will be offset against the security deposits and good…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s MultiChoice rejects Vivendi’s Canal Plus buyout offer

BUSINESS

SOUTH Africa's MultiChoice Group said it will not continue talks with Vivendi's Canal Plus after the board concluded that its offer significantly undervalues the company. Canal Plus, a top shareholder in MultiChoice, had on Thursday offered 105 rand ($5.55) per share for every MultiChoice share it does not already own. Canal Plus said the offer - worth 31.7 billion rands according to Reuters calculations - was a 40% premium to MultiChoice's closing share price of 75 rands on January 31. MultiChoice said in a statement that a recently conducted exercise valued the group significantly above the offer price, excluding any potential synergies which may…

Feb

2024

By NQOBILE DLUDLA

Vivendi’s Canal Plus offers to buy rest of South Africa’s MultiChoice

BUSINESS

VIVENDI'S Canal Plus has offered to buy all the shares it does not own in South Africa's MultiChoice Group for roughly $1.7 billion to strengthen its hand in a competitive international pay TV market. Canal Plus, the top shareholder in MultiChoice with a 31.67% stake according to LSEG data, said it would likely pay 105 rand in cash per share, a 40% premium to MultiChoice's closing share price on Wednesday. Shares in MultiChoice surged in Thursday trade but remained below the offer price. They were last up 24.83% at 93 rand. Canal Plus said its offer, worth 31.7 billion rand according to…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

S.Africa’s MultiChoice and Comcast to create Africa-wide streaming service

NEWS

AFRICA'S biggest pay-TV company, MultiChoice Group, said it had entered into an agreement with U.S.-based media conglomerate Comcast to create a pan-Africa video streaming platform. The new streaming service, which will be built on MultiChoice's streaming platform Showmax, will be 70% owned by the company, it said. The remaining 30% will be owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal, it added. While MultiChoice has the biggest market share in pay TV in Africa, it has been struggling to penetrate deeper with Showmax due to competition from Netflix, Amazon's streaming service and Disney. With the streaming companies now training their guns on sports rights in Africa,…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

South African pay TV group Multichoice posts loss in first half

BUSINESS

SOUTH African pay TV company Multichoice Group said it made a loss in the first half due to an upfront investment in services and offerings it made before the soccer World Cup that starts later in November. The company has exclusive rights to broadcast the sporting extravaganza in Africa. For the half year ended September 30, its headline loss per share, the main measure of earnings in South Africa, was at 58 South African cents, down from 356 cents posted in the same period of last year. Thomson Reuters Foundation