French entertainment group Canal+ plans to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in June, a year after taking over Africa’s largest cable television company, MultiChoice.
The Paris-based company, which acquired MultiChoice in a $1.9 billion deal, announced plans to shutter MultiChoice’s streaming video app Showmax last month in a bid to streamline content delivery across its over 30 sub-Saharan African markets. MultiChoice’s revenue fell 9% in the year ending in March 2025, and the company lost nearly 3 million subscribers over the financial years 2024 and 2025. But Canal+ said its public offer will “enhance the long-term liquidity” for the company.
The JSE is Africa’s largest stock market, with a capitalization of more than $1 trillion. Canal+, which first went public on the London Stock Exchange, will join the nearly 200 non-financial private sector companies on the bourse, which is dominated by the mining and energy sectors. British American Tobacco, mining giant Glencore, and Nigerian oil company Oando are among 30 companies that count their presence on the JSE as a secondary listing.