In a letter to shareholders on Thursday, September 23, Vivendi announced that it had increased the stake of its subsidiary CANAL+ Group in the capital of the operator MultiChoice Group.
With 15.37% of the shares, CANAL+ and its parent company Vivendi have become the largest shareholders in the South African group.
Vivendi achieved this special position in several stages, implemented at an accelerated pace:
The group first announced that it had exceeded 5% of Multichoice's capital and acquired 6.5% of the shares in September 2020,
then increased its stake to 12% in November of the same year.
See also: CANAL+ now holds 12% of MultiChoice's capital
In less than a year, CANAL+'s stake in Multichoice has more than tripled, rising from less than 5% to 15.37%.
MultiChoice, which has more than 20 million subscribers in English- and Portuguese-speaking Africa, is the perfect complement to CANAL+, the leader in pay TV in French-speaking Africa.
The announcement a few days ago of the acquisition by Le Groupe Canal+, via its subsidiary Canal+ International, of a 70% majority stake in SPI International confirms, if confirmation were needed, the interest that the CANAL+ group has in the non-French-speaking part of the African continent.
Although SPI International, based in the Netherlands, is best known for its activities in Eastern Europe, it has significantly expanded its presence across Africa in recent years through agreements with numerous African operators.