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    Canal Plus must make offer to MultiChoice shareholders, says regulator

    South Africa's takeover panel has ruled that French media company Groupe Canal+ SA is required to make a mandatory offer immediately to buy shares of pay-TV company MultiChoice that it does not already own, MultiChoice said on Wednesday.
    A MultiChoice logo is displayed outside the company's building in Cape Town, South Africa. Source: REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo
    A MultiChoice logo is displayed outside the company's building in Cape Town, South Africa. Source: REUTERS/Esa Alexander/File Photo

    Canal Plus, the biggest shareholder, earlier this month offered to buy the rest of the company.

    It held a 31.67% stake at the time which rose to 35.01% shortly afterwards, topping a 35% threshold where a mandatory offer is required.

    Its offer of R105 per share was rejected by the board of MultiChoice, saying it significantly undervalued the group.

    "The panel rules that Canal+ must take immediate action to comply with the requirements of.. the (Companies) Act and the regulations by making a mandatory offer to the remaining shareholders of MultiChoice," the Takeover Regulations Panel (TRP) said in its ruling.

    Canal Plus had argued it was not required to make a mandatory offer as MultiChoice's memorandum of incorporation restricts foreign companies from holding more than 20% of the broadcaster's voting rights.

    The TRP rejected this argument.

    Source: Reuters

    Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world's largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day.

    Go to: https://www.reuters.com/
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