JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -French media group Vivendi’s Canal+ on Monday made a mandatory offer to buy all the shares of South African broadcaster MultiChoice it does not already own, both companies said.
Canal+, the biggest shareholder in MultiChoice, is offering 125 rand per share in cash, valuing the pending purchase at about 35 billion rand ($1.9 billion) and the whole company at about 55 billion rand, according to Reuters calculations.
The offer price represents a premium of 66% to MultiChoice’s closing price of 75 rand on February 1, the stock’s last trading day before Canal+ delivered its indicative offer.
The deal would create a pan-African broadcasting powerhouse able to put African content to global audiences as well as compete on an international scale.
The French media company has broad reach in French-speaking African nations, MultiChoice has a stronger presence in English-speaking countries, including South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.
MultiChoice’s board has appointed Standard Bank of South Africa Limited as its advisor on the deal, the companies said.
($1 = 18.7119 rand)
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Tom Hogue and Miral Fahmy)
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