Salam,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here's what I've got for you today:
- Canal+'s offer for MultiChoice advances
- How African startups can include marginalised groups
- Copia Global ceases to take orders in certain regions of Kenya
Canal+'s offer for MultiChoice advances
MultiChoice and Groupe Canal+ have issued (pdf) a combined circular to shareholders about the French media company's required offer to acquire the South African payTV shares that it does not already own for R125 per share.
Why? This is the next step in the Takeover Regulation Panel's (TRP) regulatory process. So? MultiChoice's independent board has endorsed the offer to shareholders in the event that it becomes unconditional.
If you haven’t been following, Canal+, which owned 35% of MultiChoice, has been buying its shares on the open market. In April, it bumped up its stake in MultiChoice to 40.8%.
Thus, Canal+ will have to spend more than R30 billion on the open market to buy the MultiChoice shares it does not already hold.
If Canal+'s stake in MultiChoice exceeds 50%, the transaction may be investigated by the Competition Commission.
Canal+ and MultiChoice are currently analysing and finalising a suitable framework for MultiChoice's licenced activities to ensure compliance with the applicable foreign control constraints on the implementation of the mandated offer while maintaining MultiChoice's Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act (BBBEE) credentials.
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The offer price of R125 per share is a 66.66% premium to the MultiChoice share price and a 63.96% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average price previous to the NBIO.
Canal+ and MultiChoice recognise South Africa's economic reform and BBBEE as mutually beneficial objectives.
How African startups can include marginalised groups
Last week, in an interview with a mental healthtech company, MyTherapistng, I talked about how companies may be more inclusive of autistic employees. Well, the interview was about my life as an autistic person.
But, aside from neurodivergent conditions and mental illnesses, gender representation in the workplace is a critical component of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) movement, which aims to provide fair treatment and a sense of belonging to all groups.
DEI has gained appeal around the world, with corporations launching efforts in Africa and the Global North. However, societal and cultural changes influence how businesses approach and commit to DEI concerns.
Companies frequently add DEI-related material to job postings to reflect their policy on inclusion or regulation. For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the United States bans employers from asking about personal traits such as colour, religion, ethnicity, age, illness/disability, or marital/parental status during the recruiting process.
But is DEI an American problem? If not, what does a DEI strategy look like for an African startup? Find out on Oluwanifemi’s latest insights here.
Copia Global ceases to take orders in certain regions of Kenya
Remember this? Copia Global enters administration
Copia Global, a Kenyan B2C eCommerce platform, has ceased accepting orders from Central and Eastern Kenya after cash flow issues put it into administration.
The new administrators have reduced Copia's markets to conserve cash as it seeks new investors. The markets affected are Naivasha, Machakos, Meru, Embu, Kericho, and Eldoret.
Employees working in depots supplying affected markets have been placed on leave.
This is coming 13 months after the Kenyan eCommerce company suspended operations in Uganda.
In May 2024, the startup stated that it would lay off more than 1,000 employees. Later, Muthusi and Julius Ngonga from KPMG were engaged by Copia Kenya to help turn around operations and acquire new funding for the Kenyan unit.
The administration intends to keep the company running while also collaborating with management to acquire funds from new investors for the Kenya business.
What’s more, Copia garnered $123 million in funding but failed to generate a profit. The startup hoped to transform informal rural kiosks into a multibillion-dollar digital retail platform that would connect clients directly to fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers, lowering product costs.
