French media giant Canal+ has successfully taken control of MultiChoice, clearing the necessary regulatory hurdles to complete a complex and long-anticipated acquisition. The company’s initial offer of R125 per share was accepted by over 90% of MultiChoice’s non-Canal+ shareholders, increasing its stake to 94.36%. Canal+ will now invoke a “squeeze out” provision under Section 124(1) of the Companies Act to acquire the remaining equity and fully privatize the company.
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This landmark transaction creates an entertainment behemoth with over 40 million subscribers across 70 countries, including a significant footprint in Africa.
Canal+ CEO and chairman Maxime Saada has made it clear that the core strategic goal post-acquisition is to simplify content access through the launch of a unified “super app.” The company wants to combine DStv, Canal+, and local content into a single, seamless platform.
More significantly, this super app aims to position the new entity as a powerful content aggregator by integrating third-party streaming services like Apple TV+, Netflix, and HBO Max. Canal+ has successfully used this model in other markets, creating bundled offerings with discounts to make content access as “convenient and pleasant as possible” for subscribers.
The largest element of uncertainty surrounds Showmax, MultiChoice’s own streaming service. Showmax was relaunched in 2024 as a joint venture with NBCUniversal (MultiChoice owns 70%), utilizing the Peacock platform. The revamped app was well-received, caused a surge in new subscribers, and is now the third most-used video streaming service in Africa, behind only Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
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Despite this success and MultiChoice’s investment of around R4 billion into its development, Saada recently announced that Canal+ would review the joint venture. He admitted that the acquiring company still lacks full detail on the partnership’s economics and investments, stating a decision is expected in the “next few weeks or months.”
If Canal+ ultimately decides to offload Showmax, its highly valuable local content—much of which is already broadcast on DStv’s linear channels—could be easily moved to the new super app. Furthermore, international content currently licensed by Showmax could transition to the super app through Canal+’s existing agreements with global partners like Paramount+. However, any such move depends on the terms and duration of Showmax’s current licensing agreements with Comcast/NBCUniversal. The final branding for the unified super app remains to be determined.
