In a statement to shareholders late on Monday, the company confirmed that all agreements necessary to implement the restructuring of MultiChoice South Africa Holdings have become unconditional, paving the way for the next phase of the Canal deal. The restructuring, long signposted by both parties, is designed to facilitate the technical and regulatory requirements of the mandatory offer from Canal.
Canal, which is controlled by French conglomerate Vivendi Group, first moved to acquire MultiChoice in early 2024, launching a mandatory offer to buy out minority shareholders at R125/share. TechCentral has followed the story closely from the outset, reporting on Canal's initial accumulation of MultiChoice shares, the back-and-forth over valuation and the eventual filing of a combined circular on 4 June 2024 that formally set out the terms of the deal.
The Competition Tribunal gave its conditional blessing to the transaction earlier this year, but only on the basis that MultiChoice's South African operations be ring-fenced and reorganised. This was intended to safeguard local broadcasting and public interest obligations while still allowing Canal to consolidate its control of the wider group.