Canal+, the global media and entertainment group that took control of MultiChoice last year, has confirmed it will conduct a secondary listing on the JSE on 3 June, becoming the first French company to do so.
The inward listing remains subject to final approval from the bourse, which the company said is “expected to be imminent”. It will fulfil a commitment Canal+ made to the South African competition authorities as a condition of its acquisition of MultiChoice. The JSE listing will run alongside Canal+’s primary listing in London.
Canal+ said the listing would “enhance the long-term liquidity and tradability” of its shares and give South African investors exposure to a global media business with operations in more than 70 countries and over 40 million subscribers.
Showmax, the streaming service that competes with Netflix in Africa, will be retired on 30 April The listing announcement came alongside Canal+’s first-quarter trading update, which showed combined group revenue broadly flat year on year at €2.17-billion (-0.4%) on a restated basis including MultiChoice. Excluding MultiChoice, Canal+ revenue grew 1.8% to €1.57-billion, helped by stronger pay-TV performance in French-speaking Africa and a 9% lift in content production and distribution after the acquisition of Italian production house Lucky Red.
Source: TechCentral