COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Canal+ steps up MultiChoice buying spree

TECHCENTRAL

French broadcaster Groupe Canal+ has disclosed that it has bought even more shares in South Africa’s MultiChoice Group in recent days, taking its shareholding closer to the 50% mark.

In a regulatory filing with the JSE on Thursday, Canal+ disclosed that it bought millions more of the JSE-listed MultiChoice’s shares between 12 and 17 April. It acquired 3.65 million shares in that period, and has said it could buy more in the open market as it pursues its plan to acquire control of the parent company of DStv, Showmax and SuperSport.

“Save as may be prohibited under the Companies Act and the takeover regulations, Canal+ may acquire further MultiChoice shares after the date of this announcement while the offer [to MultiChoice shareholders] remains open...,” the French company said.

News of the additional share purchases comes 10 days after the two companies informed investors that they had agreed to work together on a mandatory offer that Canal+ must make to the MultiChoice shareholders. This was after Canal+ triggered a mandatory offer under South African rules by acquiring more than 35% of MultiChoice’s equity earlier this year.

Telegram to hit a billion users within a year, founder says

TECHCENTRAL

The Telegram messaging app, one of the most popular social media platforms in Ukraine and Russia, will likely cross a billion active monthly users within a year, its founder said in remarks published on Tuesday.

In a rare interview, Pavel Durov told US journalist Tucker Carlson that the Dubai-based, cloud-based app that allows users to send and receive messages, calls and other files, is spreading like a “forest fire”.

“We’ll probably cross a billion monthly active users within a year now,” Durov, who fully owns Telegram, told Tucker.

The goal of the app, which has now 900 million active users, is to remain a “neutral platform” and not a “player in geopolitics”, Durov said. The Russia-born entrepreneur said he had fled Russia in 2014 citing government interference in a company he founded.

One of Telegram’s main rivals, Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp, has more than two billion monthly active users. The Financial Times reported in March that Telegram would likely aim for a US listing once the company had reached profitability.

Don’t expect DStv miracles if Canal+ takeover succeeds

MYBROADBAND

Broadcasting journalist and analyst Thinus Ferreira has told MyBroadband that the acquisition is unlikely to result in major content or product overhauls.

“The Canal+ takeover bid won’t really change anything for DStv subscribers on a fundamental level,” Ferreira said.

Ferreira said Canal+’s interest in MultiChoice and MultiChoice’s possible agreement to sell had nothing to do with improving the subscriber experience or content.

“It’s about money, not about content. It’s about shareholder value and shareholders wanting money,” Ferreira explained.

“If the buyout proceeds, it will be because MultiChoice investors can and will make money.”

Ferreira said that Canal+ has a “threatened and mature” consumer base in Europe and needs to expand into other territories to survive.

To achieve this, it either needs to grow organically or through acquisition. It has decided Africa is a region where it can add to its customer base.

MultiChoice’s growth has flatlined in South Africa in recent years but has seen significant gains in other African markets.

While Canal+ already has a foothold in francophone countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Cote d’Ivoire, MultiChoice has primarily flexed its muscles in anglophone countries, including Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria.

Ferreira said the behind-the-scenes adjustments will impact MultiChoice employees.

“There will be retrenchments and downsizing at MultiChoice as the acquired company...[this] always happens with takeovers as part of ‘streamlining operational efficiencies’,” he explained.

IMF: Outlook for world economy is brighter

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its outlook for the global economy this year, saying the world appears headed for a “soft landing” — reining in inflation without much economic pain and producing steady if modest growth.

The IMF now envisions 3.2% worldwide expansion this year, up a tick from the 3.1% it had predicted in January and matching 2023’s pace. And it foresees a third straight year of 3.2% growth in 2025.

In its latest outlook, the IMF, a 190-country lending organization, notes that the global expansion is being powered by unexpectedly strong growth in the United States, the world’s largest economy. The IMF expects the U.S. economy to grow 2.7% this year, an upgrade from the 2.1% it had predicted in January and faster than a solid 2.5% expansion in 2023.

Though sharp price increases remain an obstacle across the world, the IMF foresees global inflation tumbling from 6.8% last year to 5.9% in 2024 and 4.5% next year. In the world’s advanced economies alone, the organization envisions inflation falling from 4.6% in 2023 to 2.6% this year and 2% in 2025, brought down by the effects of higher interest rates.