by Thinus Ferreira
France's Groupe Canal+ SA has now acquired a 6.5% stake in the pay-TV operator MultiChoice Group that runs the DStv service, in ordinary shares.
The MultiChoice Group that is listed on South Africa's JSE stock exchange in an investor statement announced on Monday morning that Canal+ bought 6.5% of MultiChoice's ordinary shares.
Groupe Canal+ first acquired a 5% shareholding in MultiChoice in April 2020 and has now increased it by another 1.5%.
That makes Canal+ the second biggest shareholder in MultiChoice after the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
Canal+ is owned by Vivendi, headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, outside Paris.
In 2018 after putting its MultiChoice Africa business up for possible sale, a sale to Vivendi of MultiChoice's pay-TV business outside of South Africa was rejected.
In July 2019 Canal+ that runs its own pay-TV service across the African continent, acquired Nigeria's ROK Studios and TV channels business for an undisclosed amount.
"As a publicly held company, MultiChoice regularly engages with its strategic partners and maintains an open dialogue with the investment community. The group’s policy is not to comment on its individual shareholders nor on its interactions with them," MultiChoice says.
"The company remains committed to acting in the best interests of all shareholders and to create sustainable long-term shareholder value."
