MultiChoice - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Kenyan-made dramas, comedies rival foreign sports in viewership numbers

KENYAN viewers are beginning to show a strong preference for locally-produced content, regional giant MultiChoice has revealed, with the appetite and consumption of Kenyan-made films now second only to foreign sports content like the UEFA and English premier leagues. “Some classic shows like 'Hulabaloo', 'Njoro wa uba' in the last six months attracted more than 5 million viewers. Record viewership of 'Kasiri', 'Zari' and the growing dominance of 'Kina' is just amazing. Kenyans are not only watching local content they are actually paying for local content,” said MultiChoice Managing Director, Nzola Miranda during the company's early April Kenya Content Showcase.…

Apr

2024

By NQOBILE DLUDLA

Vivendi’s Canal+ makes mandatory buyout offer for South Africa’s MultiChoice

BUSINESS

FRENCH media group Vivendi's Canal+ made an all-cash mandatory offer to buy all the shares of South African broadcaster MultiChoice it does not already own for 35 billion rands ($1.9 billion), both companies said. That offer at 125 rands per share follows an indicative offer of 105 rands made by Canal+ on Feb. 1, which MultiChoice rejected as significantly undervaluing the company. The need to make a mandatory offer was triggered by Canal+, MultiChoice's biggest shareholder, subsequently raising its holding in the firm above the 35% threshold. Its new offer values MultiChoice, in which it now owns a 36.6% stake, at about 55 billion rand, according…

Mar

2024

By NQOBILE DLUDLA

Canal+ raises buyout offer for South Africa’s MultiChoice

BUSINESS

FRENCH media group Vivendi's Canal+ has raised its offer to buy all the shares of South Africa's MultiChoice that it does not already own, the companies said. Canal+, the biggest shareholder in MultiChoice, will offer 125 rand per share, valuing the pending shares at about 33.7 billion rand ($1.77 billion) according to Reuters calculations, after its previous offer of 105 rand was rejected last month. Maxime Saada, chairman and CEO of Canal+, told Reuters on Tuesday that the French company had engaged with the board of Africa's biggest pay-TV company to determine a reasonable price that would lead them to resume talks. "It was clear that…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Canal+ to make firm offer to buy remainder of S.Africa’s MultiChoice by April 8

BUSINESS

Vivendi's French media company Canal+ will publish a firm intention to buy shares of South African pay-TV company MultiChoice tab that it does not already own by no later than April 8, it said on Monday. This follows a ruling on Wednesday by South Africa's Takeover Regulations Panel that required Canal+ to immediately make a firm intention announcement because its 35.01% shareholding in MultiChoice triggered a mandatory offer requirement when it raised its stake earlier in February. "Canal+ respects the decision taken by the Panel and will comply with it. On this basis, Canal+ confirms that it has applied for and received from the…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

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

NEWS

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…

Jan

2024

By Mpho Rantao

Excitement mounts for the sixth Jo’burg Film Festival

NEWS, ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, WHAT'S HAPPENING

THE vibrant city of Johannesburg is gearing up to welcome film lovers to the Jo'burg Film Festival, set to take place from Tuesday, February 27th, to Sunday, March 3rd. One of Africa's most popular film screening events, this much-anticipated annual celebration of cinema brings together a diverse community of filmmakers, industry professionals, and cinema enthusiasts for a week-long extravaganza dedicated to the art of storytelling through film. https://twitter.com/JoburgFilmFest/status/1740038632218730953?s=20 One of the highlights of this year's festival is the Youth and Audience Development Programme, which has just unveiled its schedule and venues. As part of the festival's commitment to nurturing young…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s MultiChoice to offer Premier League content on streaming platform Showmax

NEWS

SOUTH African pay TV company MultiChoice Group and U.S. media conglomerate Comcast will offer African subscribers a standalone live Premier League soccer plan on mobile as part of its revamped Showmax video streaming platform. Africa's biggest pay TV company MultiChoice has been investing billions of rand to fight off competition from international streaming giants such as Netflix, Amazon and Disney, some of which have also been investing in local content. Last year the group entered into a partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky to revamp MultiChoice's existing Showmax streaming service, which will be built on NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming platform. Detailing the plans at the launch…

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,…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria, Multichoice in $5.5- billion tax dispute

NEWS

CAMILLUS EBOH NIGERIA’S revenue service has told banks to freeze the accounts of units of pay-TV group MultiChoice to recover $4.4 billion, in the latest tax dispute between a South African-based company and Nigerian authorities. Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) said it had instructed banks to freeze the accounts of MultiChoice Africa and its Nigerian subsidiary for breaching agreements and denying access to records for auditing. Shares in MultiChoice, which denied the accusations and said the issue could be resolved amicably, fell more than 5% in Johannesburg. The case follows another dispute in 2018 involving South African mobile operator…