In a busier day for corporate news on Friday, MultiChoice announced that French giant Canal+ has picked up another hefty chunk, though it still faces hurdles in terms of gaining control. In international news, US dairy farmers are battling bird flu through measures such as banning visitors and cutting down trees.
French media group Canal+ has built up its stake in takeover target MultiChoice to just over 40%, the owner of DStv and Showmax said on Friday. Canal+ made a formal bid for MultiChoice on Monday at R125 per share, with a circular yet to be released. MultiChoice had closed at just under R120 per share on Thursday. MultiChoice said in a statement that there is a requirement to inform MultiChoice and the Takeover Regulation (TRP) when their shareholding increases above specific thresholds, or 5% increments. "Some shareholders have asked whether Canal+ might cross the 50% shareholding in this way. We do not envisage this happening as exceeding 50% ownership would amount to a merger under the Competition Act, which would require prior approval from the Competition Tribunal," MultiChoice said. The TRP said shares were bought between 8 and 11 April at a price range from R117.62 to R119.92. MultiChoice was down about 2% on Friday afternoon at R117.54. It has risen about 57% since the beginning of February, when Canal+ indicated it wanted to take over.
Luno has been awarded a financial services provider licence by the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA). SA's largest and oldest crypto asset service provider made the announcement in a statement on Thursday. The FSCA's online portal which verifies the status of authorised financial service providers confirms its status. In a statement, Luno said it was the first dedicated crypto trading platform to be awarded the licence. At the end of March, SA group Jaltech confirmed that it received a crypto asset service provider licence from the FSCA.