MultiChoice chair to stay on until Canal+ deal done

Imtiaz Patel will remain as chair of MultiChoice until the conclusion of the Canal+ transaction, the pay-TV operator says.

The move suspends, at least for now, the group’s efforts to address governance concerns that had been brought up by shareholders. 

French broadcaster Canal+ has made a mandatory offer to MultiChoice investors to take up all the shares that it does not already own by April 8.

The MultiChoice board said it had reached an agreement for Patel to stay as the continuity would be beneficial. Patel agreed to extend his tenure until the conclusion of the Canal+ transaction or sooner, depending on the progress of the transaction.

Elias Masilela, a long-standing nonexecutive director and chair, became the deputy chair of the MultiChoice board on April 1. He will also become lead independent director in place of Jim Volkwyn, who will step down but remain a nonexecutive director.

Patel had initially stepped down after nearly three years as chair in September 2023. The move was meant to improve governance standards after the company came under fire for having cosy deals with board members that exposed it to potential conflicts of interest. 

The company recently terminated a consultancy contract with Kgomotso Moroka, one of its longest-serving board members, after investors flagged that a consultancy deal put her role as an independent director in question.

The group appears to have decided that a possible takeover by Canal+ warrants holding off Patel’s exit from the chair’s office.

At the start of February, Canal+ made an offer to buy the rest of the company at R105 a share, or just more than R31bn, in what would have been the biggest M&A deal so far in SA in 2024.

The DStv owner snubbed the offer as too low for the business and its prospects, even though it is at the top end of the target price range that analysts and brokers have for the stock. 

Canal+ then raised its offer to R125 per share on March 5, valuing the deal at about R37bn.

Canal+, a top shareholder in MultiChoice that had a 31.67% interest when it proposed the offer, raised its stake to 35.01% after the deal’s announcement earlier in February, just above the threshold that would require the company to make a mandatory offer to shareholders.

The Paris-based company said it would publish a firm intention announcement by April 8.

Update: April 2 2024
This story has been updated with additional information. 

mackenziej@arena.africa