MultiChoice seeks conclusion of $3b partnership deal with Canal+ to rival Netflix, Amazon
African entertainment company, Multichoice, is concluding plans on a $3 billion partnership deal with France’s Vivendi SE’s Canal+ to challenge global streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon.
Calvo Mawela, the company’s CEO, told Bloomberg that this partnership will help expand the company’s content reach. “A combination gives us a better chance to compete against the global giants.
“Scale matters in this industry, then you are able to negotiate better rates for content and you are able to generate more revenues, especially with one party operating in French-speaking Africa and one in the English-speaking part of Africa,” Mawale said.
In Nigeria especially, the company laments its challenges of currency depreciation and subscriber loss, which have had an adverse impact on its profit margins and ability to spend.
Multichoice notes that local ownership laws could hinder the move, so it is in discussions with regulators to ease these obstacles.
“We put something together that should be acceptable for the regulators, and engagements are ongoing. We believe it’s a good story for Africa,” Mawela said.
While Canal+ is upping its stake in MultiChoice, the latter is already providing its partner with access to English Premier League football.
The merger targets 50 million subscribers, while a revenue of $1 billion is expected to be generated from the Showmax service over the next five years.
