Vivendi's Canal+ Acquisition Bid of MultiChoice Gets New April Deadline

Vivendi SE's Canal+, a French premium television channel, is set to issue a firm intention to acquire remaining shares in MultiChoice, an African entertainment company. For this, the former was given extra time to make a mandatory offer for the takeover.

Extended Deadline for Bid

According to Tech Central, Canal Plus has an additional 25 days to make an offer to shareholders of the MultiChoice Group. The new deadline has been moved to no later than April 8, and this was confirmed on Monday, March 4.

Canal Plus said via a statement to its shareholders that it received an extension from the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) to make the mandatory bid. The additional time comes after the TRP determined that the French TV channel had triggered a mandatory offer requirement under South African law after having purchased more than 35% of MultiChoice's shares.

"Canal+ respects the decision taken by the Panel, and will comply with it," Reuters quoted the media group as saying in a statement. "On this basis, Canal+ confirms that it has applied for and received from the Panel an exemption from adhering to the timing requirements."

Rejection of First Bid Offer

Canal Plus is already the largest shareholder in MultiChoice, and last month, it placed an offer to buy the remaining stake in the company for 105 rand per share. However, the latter did not accept the offer, stating the price given considerably undervalued the company.

Meanwhile, Business Tech reported that MultiChoice approached the TRP to make a decision on the buyout bid from the TV channel. But then, despite being issued a compliance notice for the public manner where it approached the TRP, the company did not get its answer from the panel, and because of this, Canal+ will have to make a mandatory offer.

Photo by: MultiChoice Media Room