Following the milestone merger transaction between Africa’s largest pay-TV operator, MultiChoice Group (MCG), and the French media and telecommunications conglomerate, Canal+, the Black Business Council (BBC) has congratulated both companies and urged them to empower black people in the film and production industry.
On Thursday, the BBC reported that it had noted and supported the conditional approval by the Competition Tribunal in South Africa on July 22 of the merger, as granted.
The lobby group that advocates for the inclusion of Black-owned businesses in major projects in the government and private sectors also stated that it has noted the approval of the transaction by the shareholders of Phuthuma Nathi and MCG in August 2025.
BBC CEO Kganki Matabane said: “These approvals pave the way for the successful implementation of the transaction.
“In anticipation of the implementation of the transaction, the BBC reiterates its position that the transaction must advance the interests and promote the empowerment of South
Africans across the audio-visual ecosystem and, more specifically, those of the marginalised black majority.
“The BBC intends to hold both MCG and Canal+ to the public interest undertakings they have committed to, including those forming part of the tribunal’s conditions for the merger.
“Therefore, the investment by MCG in the local content industry, the development of SMMEs in the audiovisual sector, and the contribution to sports in South Africa must be sustained and enhanced going forward.
“Furthermore, the MultiChoice business in South Africa must be led and managed by Black South Africans.”
Matabane also said that the BBC will ensure that the competition authorities and the sector regulator will closely monitor the implementation of the transaction to ensure that there is compliance with the conditions and undertakings given.
In July, the Competition Tribunal agreed to support the acquisition of MCG by the London-listed Canal+, where a proposed merger was approved.
Canal+’s acquisition of MCG is worth R35 billion, and the BBC believes the transaction could possibly reshape Africa’s media landscape by taking on global media giants in content production.
