Orbicom, MultiChoice’s Signal Distributor, is Attempting to Transfer its Licenses to Canal+ as Part of a $3Billion Acquisition Deal

Orbicom, the company that helps MultiChoice send signals to your TV, is trying to hand over its licenses to Canal+, a French media giant. This is part of Canal+’s massive $3 billion plan to buy MultiChoice outright.  

The South African communications regulator, Icasa, recently got a request from Orbicom to transfer its licenses to Canal+. These licenses let Orbicom operate communication services and use radio frequencies, basically, the tools it needs to keep your TV channels running. Icasa will decide whether to approve this by checking a few things: if it’s fair for competition, if it helps consumers, and if enough shares are owned by people who were historically left out of business opportunities (like Black South Africans).  

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Interestingly, Canal+ already has a 40% stake owned by these historically disadvantaged groups. Now, Icasa is asking anyone with opinions to speak up by April 7. This is a big deal because it’s a key part of Canal+’s takeover of MultiChoice.  

Canal+ has been quietly buying MultiChoice shares for years. In 2024, it crossed the 35% ownership mark, which forced it to offer to buy the rest of the company. The deal? R125 per share, totaling over $3 billion. By May 2024, Canal+ owned 45% of MultiChoice, and it’s still buying more shares. The total cost could hit R30 billion in cash.  

Why does Canal+ want MultiChoice so badly? The answer goes back to 2020. Canal+ wanted to create a giant African TV network by merging its dominance in French-speaking countries with MultiChoice’s reach in English-speaking Africa. The goal? To compete with global media giants like Netflix.  

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Now, transferring Orbicom’s licenses to Canal+ is a major step in this plan. If approved, Canal+ will have even more control over MultiChoice’s operations. But Icasa’s decision could slow things down, or speed them up.  

For now, everyone’s waiting to see what happens next. If Canal+ succeeds, it could reshape Africa’s TV landscape and turn the company into a continental powerhouse. But first, it needs those licenses, and Icasa’s green light.  

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