Africa’s Top Pay-TV Group Multichoice’s Market Cap Tops $3 Billion On JSE Debut

Published 5 years ago
NIGERIA-SAFRICA-TELECOMMUNICATION-TV

Africa’s biggest pay-TV group MultiChoice debuted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Wednesday with shares opening at 95.50 rand, giving the company a market capitalization of 42 billion rand ($3.03 billion).

South African ecommerce giant Naspers decided to spin off MultiChoice after coming under pressure in recent years to find ways to narrow a valuation discount between its market value and that of its one-third stake in Chinese internet group Tencent.

As of 0727 GMT, the stock was trading at 105.04 rand, adding to opening gains.

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Naspers did not raise any money from the listing with the 439 million shares instead being distributed to current Naspers shareholders on a one-for-one basis for its listed shares and one for five unlisted A class shares

Founded 30 years ago, MultiChoice reaches around 14 million households in 50 African countries, offering both paid-TV products and a fledging streaming service called Showmax.

The company has said there are more than 25 million households across the continent yet to be captured by its traditional pay-TV business.

The spin off leaves MultiChoice — whose strong cash flow helped Naspers evolve into one world’s biggest players in e-commerce – free to fend for itself in an increasingly competitive market where Netflix is already supplying viewers with TV content and Hollywood hits.

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“This is a momentous time for our business… This marks the next chapter in our development and growth,” said MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela.-Reuters

-Emma Rumney

Related Topics: #Dstv, #Featured, #Multichoice, #Naspers, #Netflix, #Tencent.