📺 A new chapter for African TV
The king of African pay-TV has lost its title.
There was a time when MultiChoice felt untouchable, the king of African pay-TV, with its premium package as the crown jewel. But then, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ came, and suddenly that throne didn’t feel so secure.
With premium subscribers slipping away and the competition turning up the heat, something had to give. Now, after months of boardroom chess and regulatory red tape, MultiChoice is going ahead with its $2 billion sale to French media giant CANAL+. But here’s the twist: it’s not a straight sale. To get the green light from South African regulators, a new company, LicenceCo, will hold all the local broadcasting licences and customer contracts.
LicenceCo will be majority-owned by black empowerment investors, with MultiChoice keeping a 20% voting stake and 49% economic interest. It’s a neat workaround that keeps the regulators happy, brings in new capital, and lets MultiChoice stay in the game.
Until the next one,
— Chivu
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