Early years (1983–1991)
In 1983, Koos Bekker wrote a paper at Columbia University describing the idea that led to M-Net, and along with two others pitched the idea to Naspers, which acquired a 26% share, leading to Naspers executive Ton Vosloo serving as chair of the board.[6] M-Net lost money in its first few years.[7]
Expansion (1992–2017)
In 1993, M-Net was divided into two divisions, one focused on transmission of the entertainment channels and the other on cellphone operations, signal distribution and subscriber management. This second division became MultiChoice. The company had been granted a licence to broadcast into Namibia in 1991 and, as a result, in 1996 MultiChoice Africa was established.[8]
In 1992, analogue services were launched in 20 African countries and lasted until 1996 when digital services replaced them. This division, called DStv (Digital Satellite Television), had first been launched in South Africa on October 6, 1995, making it the first direct-to-home digital pay-TV service outside the US.[8]
In 2002, a "Dual-view" decoder was launched by DStv which allowed the simultaneous viewing of two different channels from a single satellite feed. In 2006, a service to mobile devices was trialed and officially launched in 2011 as DStv Mobile (now called DStv Stream, renamed from DStv Now then DStv App).[8]
In October 2011, MultiChoice Nigeria launched GOtv, an affordable terrestrial platform & a compatriot to DStv, which broadcasts all channels from DStv Access and some from DStv Compact packages in 11 Sub-Saharan African countries.[9][10]
MultiChoice broadcasts in 50 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Cape Verde and Madagascar. Local language programme content is available in French and Portuguese in certain African territories, as well as the 11 official languages within South Africa.
IPO and consolidation (2018–2023)
In September 2018, Multichoice's then parent company Naspers announced that it would separate its video entertainment business from the bulk of Naspers and list it separately on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The new company would be called MultiChoice Group and would include MultiChoice South Africa, MultiChoice Africa, Showmax Africa, and Irdeto. The listing took place on 27 February 2019, with share code MCG. The share was immediately eligible for inclusion in the JSE Top40, the list of the largest 40 shares by market capitalisation.[11]
In October 2020, French media company Groupe Canal+ acquired 12% stake in MultiChoice.[12] In November, MultiChoice acquired 20% stake in Nigeria's sports betting company, BetKing with plans to launch it in South Africa.[13]
In June 2021, they increased their stake to 49%.[14]
Acquisition by Canal+ S.A. (2024–2025)
Nearly a year later, on February 1, 2024, Canal+ made an offer to MultiChoice's investors to acquire remaining shares, subject to regulatory approval, offering a price of R105 per share, 40% higher than the price of R75 offered the previous day.[16] MultiChoice rejected the offer believing it undervalued the company. Following a reprimand by the Takeover Regulation Panel, Canal+ revised its offer and upped its bid to R125 per share (67% higher than the MultiChoice share price).[17][18] This valued MultiChoice at R55 billion.[19]
In June 2024, Canal+ Group and MultiChoice released a joint circular with the French broadcaster that has obtained 45,2% of company shares with an interim board approving on the revised offer.[20] Both companies made a filing to local regulators in September 2024 with the terms of the agreement remaining unchanged.[21]
Post-acquisition (2025–)
In September 2025, new leadership was announced for Canal+ Africa, of which Multichoice formed a part. Former CEO of Multichoice, Calvo Mawela, would become Canal+ Africa's Chairman. David Mignot was appointed as the division's CEO.[1]
In the same month, Canal+ Africa's CEO, David Mignot, said that customers should expect Canal+ and Multichoice companies to combine their content catalogues. Mignot said Canal+ creates 4,000 hours of African content in up to 15 languages each year, which customers would be able to access in addition to MultiChoice’s 6,000 hours of local content produced annually. He further said that combined, the companies would offer approximately 10,000 hours of content per year, in 20 to 35 languages.[27]
Mignot also said that Canal+ Africa was assessing the viability of maintaining three over-the-top (OTT) streaming services (Showmax, DStv Stream, and its own OTT service).[27]
