Canal+ offers to buy MultiChoice for $2.9 billion

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March 6, 2024
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5 min read
MultiChoice building

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Ni hao,

Victoria from Techpoint here,

Here's what I've got for you today:

  • Canal+ to buy MultiChoice for R125 per share
  • Binance stops naira services
  • Deel acquires PaySpace for $100m

Canal+ to buy MultiChoice for R125 per share

MultiChoice's building

Remember this? Canal+ has 24 business days to buy MultiChoice

Yeah, it’s another Canal+-MultiChoice update. It's like the not-so-forbidden fruit, so allow me to dish out the freshest updates on the deal. I won’t bore you, I promise.

Yesterday, Groupe Canal+ put in its official bid to snatch up the rest of MultiChoice. It already owns about 35% of the shares but wants the whole pie.

The French media company just upped its game and threw $2.9 billion on the table to snatch up MultiChoice! So, now it's offering R125 per share, a 19% bump from its initial offer of R105.

MultiChoice shareholders are in for a windfall if they accept. But let us be honest: this is a big money move.

For context, MultiChoice has a ton of shares out there, about 442.5 million to be exact. As of February 2024, Canal+ already owned roughly 154.9 million of them, which works out to about 35% of the whole pie.

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Now, if Canal+ wants to grab the rest of those shares, they're looking at a hefty price tag.


Binance stops naira services

Binance logo

Binance is pulling the plug on anything related to the Nigerian naira. Yes, you read that right — no more naira services on the crypto platform.

So, if you have any naira on the platform, you should withdraw it, trade it, or swap it for something else by Friday, March 8, 2024.

Why? Following the deadline, Binance is converting naira to USDT at a rate of ₦1,515 to 1 USDT, based on the average closing pair in the previous week.

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However, this move isn't shocking, considering all the heat Binance has been getting from Nigeria's crypto crackdown lately. It's been a rough ride!

It all started with whispers about the Nigerian government becoming concerned about cryptocurrency platforms and blaming them for the naira's decline. Then, on February 20, 2024, Binance's P2P feature went silent, leaving no buy or sell ads in sight.

Next thing you know, some telcos in Nigeria are blocking cryptocurrency websites left and right, including Binance and even local ones like Quidax.

To top it off, the government even detained some Binance executives and hit the company with a hefty fine.

While Binance isn't explicitly saying it's ditching the naira because of all this drama, it's not exactly a stretch to connect the dots.

Thus, if you are a Binance user with extra naira, you should act quickly. Otherwise, you may have some virtual pocket change that is about to turn into USDT.

If you have any pending orders tied to NGN pairs, Binance will close them automatically. It has already removed the naira from its P2P feature as of February 28, 2024.


Deel acquires PaySpace for $100m

PaySpace's founders
PaySpace's founders

Deel, a San Francisco-based HR startup, has acquired PaySpace, a South African payroll and HR software company.

So, some sources claim the company kept things hush-hush about the figures, while others spilled the beans, suggesting that Deel coughed up around $100 million for the acquisition.

For Deel, which is already operating in 70 countries, this is a chance to beef up its presence in Africa.

PaySpace has over 14,000 customers in 44 countries and has big names like Heineken and Coca-Cola on its books. The company is no small fry, you see?

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Some background on PaySpace: Back in 2007, three brothers — Bruce, Clyde, and Warren Clark — and their buddy George Karageorgiades got together and started PaySpace.

They decided to build a cloud-based platform because they were tired of the antiquated payroll and HR software and wanted things to be simpler.

Within three years, they were already rocking in 11 countries. Fast forward to 2022, and they're in a whopping 43 countries!

Its clients? Well, they range from small mom-and-pop shops to big corporations with thousands of employees. Interestingly, year over year, the company says its sales have increased by over 30%!

Now that Deel has its hands on over 150 companies worldwide and runs payroll teams in more than 70 countries, it’s also diving into big enterprise stuff, and it reckons PaySpace will help it do just that.

Before the takeover, Deel was already serving big names like Shopify and Hermes, with about 25,000 customers in total. Sure, there might be some overlap with PaySpace's client base, but combining forces will boost those numbers significantly.


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Have a superb Wednesday!

Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa.

She's autistic and interested in mental health and how technology can help Africans with mental disorders. Find her on Twitter @latoria_ria.
She's autistic and interested in mental health and how technology can help Africans with mental disorders. Find her on Twitter @latoria_ria.
She's autistic and interested in mental health and how technology can help Africans with mental disorders. Find her on Twitter @latoria_ria.

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