MultiChoice’s Chief Executive, Calvo Mawela, revealed that a possible $3 billion merger with French media company Canal+, owned by Vivendi SE, could significantly enhance the African TV company’s competitive edge against major U.S. streaming platforms like Netflix.
During a Bloomberg TV interview, Mawela shared that the deal, subject to regulatory approval, would allow MultiChoice to extend its market influence by merging its reach in English-speaking African regions with Canal+’s presence in French-speaking areas. This merger, he noted, would provide the scale required to secure favorable content deals and boost revenue streams.
“This partnership gives us a stronger position to face global streaming giants,” Mawela stated, underscoring that scale is essential for success in the streaming sector. “With combined efforts in French and English-speaking African markets, we can secure better content rates and increase revenue.”
Classified as a “large merger” under South African law, the proposed deal is pending approval by the Competition Tribunal. MultiChoice formally accepted Vivendi’s proposal in June.
In a 2023 analysis, research firm Omdia estimated Netflix’s African subscriber base at 1.8 million, while MultiChoice’s Showmax had around 2.1 million users. Digital TV Research forecasts that Netflix could reach 6.9 million subscribers in Africa by 2029, compared to Showmax’s projected 3.7 million.
In a bid to strengthen Showmax, MultiChoice partnered with NBCUniversal and Sky last year, adding live Premier League coverage to its lineup.
MultiChoice has faced challenges in Nigeria, reporting a 243,000-subscriber loss for DSTV and GOTV in its interim financial results for the six months ending September 30, 2024. The decline was attributed to high inflation impacting essential costs, such as food, electricity, and fuel, which has squeezed household budgets.
