CANAL+ announces JSE secondary listing following R35 billion MultiChoice acquisition

CANAL+ Groupe, the global media and entertainment group that has closed the R35 billion acquisition of MultiChoice Group (MCG), plans a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock exchange.

The deal that adds MultiChoice's extensive African subscriber base to CANAL+'s portfolio will see it serve more than 40 million subscribers across nearly 70 countries. It was CANAL+'s biggest acquisition, to date, and follows the global group's listing on the London Stock Exchange in December 2024.

In June last year, CANAL+ and MultiChoice set out an offer by CANAL+ to acquire all the issued shares of MCG, not already owned by CANAL+, for R125 per share, payable in cash.

"We are pleased with the overwhelming success of the offer. Following this outcome, we will move ahead with a squeeze-out of MultiChoice shareholders and a subsequent secondary inward listing of CANAL+ in Johannesburg, in addition to our primary listing in London," Maxime Saada, CEO of CANAL+ said in a statement on Monday.

The Takeover Regulation Panel okayed the transaction on September 22, 2025. The offer closed on Friday, and shareholders holding 217.66 million shares, or 92.54% of the shares, accepted the offer. CANAL+ now holds about 94.39% of MCG's shares.

As more than 90% of shareholders accepted the offer, CANAL+ will compulsorily acquire the rest of MCG's shares at R125 per share. MCG will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of CANAL+, and it will be delisted from the JSE.

CANAL+ would undertake a secondary inward listing on the JSE, also in terms of commitments it made to Competition authorities in South Africa, a statement from the directors said.

"A secondary inward listing will preserve South African investor access and market liquidity, allowing local investors to hold shares in a leading global media and entertainment company on the JSE," said Saada.

A listing would also broaden CANAL+'s investor base, reinforce its long-term commitment to South Africa and Africa's creative economy, and support continued institutional exposure to the media sector, said Saada.

The integration of MCG and CANAL+ had begun. Saada said they had been clear the day the acquisition of MultiChoice was launched, that the secondary listing was a commitment they wanted to make.

"Given the important role CANAL+ will now play in South Africa and across the African continent, I believe it to be critically important that domestic investors have the ability to have exposure to a leading media and entertainment company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange while investors continue to get access to CANAL+ through the London Stock Exchange," he said.

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