MultiChoice headquarters in Randburg, Johannesburg.
Canal+ and MultiChoice have committed an additional R2 billion to public interest initiatives in South Africa, as part of a growing list of undertakings tied to their proposed R30 billion deal.
The funds cater for commitments that include increased support for local content production, supplier development, and the establishment of a university to develop media and broadcasting talent.
The merger, if finalised, would create a media giant with a footprint across Africa and a combined subscriber base of 41 million.
French media group Canal+ currently owns a significant stake in MultiChoice and last year offered to buy out the remaining shares, valuing the company at R55 billion. MultiChoice’s current market capitalisation is R51 billion.
Heather Irvine, acting on behalf of Canal+, confirmed that the group’s corporate and social investment offer had been formalised. “The proposed contribution towards corporate and social investment is now a firm number,” said Irvine.
“The DTIC [Department of Trade, Industry and Competition] has agreed that is an appropriate commitment for us to make.”
Irvine noted that Canal+ has increased its overall public interest commitment by R2 billion, taking the three-year total from R26 billion to R28 billion. This package spans areas such as local content, news diversity, and support for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), benchmarked against MultiChoice’s historical spend.
In its 2025 financial year, MultiChoice reported R12.8 billion in local procurement, of which R3.9 billion was directed to SMMEs. The parties indicated that spending on historically disadvantaged producers (HDPs) would be maintained, although they cautioned against making this a binding condition due to the fast-evolving nature of the industry.
MultiChoice general manager of regulatory affairs Lara Kantor said regulatory frameworks require transparency in the commissioning of programming, and how MultiChoice deals with unsolicited scripts is detailed on its website.
“So, it just gives independent producers a lay of the land. And then it also requires that we report against that protocol within the year, so that we say, these are how many producers we engaged with over the last year,” Kantor explained. She added that this would include HDPs.
Kantor also outlined MultiChoice’s framework for working with independent producers, which includes aspects such as funding models and intellectual property ownership depending on which company made which contribution.
David Mignot, CEO of Canal+ Africa, said the French broadcaster has similar frameworks in place across its operations in 25 African countries. However, he cautioned against regulating only one party in a highly-competitive sector. This type of arrangement is a commercial one, he said, adding that imposing such conditions solely on the merged entity could “create difficulties and potentially risks creating an unlevel playing field”.
On Thursday, MultiChoice warned that traditional broadcasters face increasing threats from streaming services, social media and piracy.
In a presentation shared with ITWeb, it noted it was battling financially due to increasing threats from streaming services, social media and piracy. The group also pointed to local challenges, such as rising personal indebtedness and frequent power outages. This led to a 60% drop in trading profit over the past two years and a steady decline in subscriber numbers.
“MultiChoice does not currently have the scale needed to succeed in the new environment,” it said. The company sees the merger as essential to building “a global media company with 41 million subscribers”. It argues that “an African media champion will provide numerous benefits to South Africa”.
In May, the Competition Commission recommended that the merger proceed, subject to several conditions. These include employment guarantees, supplier development commitments, support for HDPs and worker shareholding in MultiChoice units Orbicom and LicenceCo, maintaining operations in South Africa, and promoting diversity in news content.
The merged entity will report on its compliance with the conditions for at least three years. Both companies have agreed to a three-year moratorium on retrenchments.
Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada welcomed the regulator’s conditional approval at the time, calling it a “major step forward in our ambition to create a global media and entertainment company with Africa at its heart”. He reaffirmed Canal+’s commitment to investing in local content and supporting South Africa’s creative and sports ecosystems.
