French media giant to become MultiChoice’s second biggest shareholder

French media company Groupe Canal+ SA has bought a 6.5% stake in MultiChoice, a deal that made the foreign media giant the second biggest shareholder after the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).

In a statement published on the Stock Exchange News Service (Sens) on Monday, Multichoice Group said it has filed the required notice with the Takeover Regulation Panel.

Multichoice, the owner of South Africa’s largest satellite television provider, DStv was unbundled from SA’s media giant, Naspers early in 2019 and listed as a standalone entity in February last year. Since the listing, the company’s share price has lost only 3.3 percent while many other South African companies had their market values wiped out in double digits since the beginning of 2019.

After Monday’s announcement, Multichoice’s share price rose by over 9 percent at one point and was trading 8 percent higher than Friday’s closing price for most of the morning.

Canal+ SA is owned by French media conglomerate, Vivendi which also owns music labels, publishing, online gaming and marketing brands. Canal+ specializes in film and television studios.-ebusinessweekly.co.zw