Multichoice willing to sell more Showmax shares
TECHCENTRALMultiChoice Group said on Monday that it is open to US media giant Comcast acquiring a larger stake in its video streaming platform, Showmax.
Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal in the US and Sky in the UK, last year acquired a 30% stake in Showmax for an undisclosed sum. NBCUniversal has been instrumental in the relaunch of Showmax, details of which were also unveiled on Monday, with the platform utilising the same technology that underpins Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming offering.
Asked by TechCentral whether in terms of the agreement between MultiChoice and Comcast, the US firm can increase its stake in Showmax, Mawela said: “Absolutely!” He added that such an arrangement is not precluded under the terms of their deal. “They decided to take 30% to start with, but who knows what the future holds?”
They decided to take 30% to start with, but who knows what the future holds?
Asked whether Comcast could increase its stake to more than 50% in Showmax, effectively taking control of the business, Mawela declined to “speculate”, but said: “Everything we do is in the interests of our shareholders. If someone wants to make an offer, the board has a fiduciary duty to consider it... Let’s leave it at that; our responsibility is to our shareholders.”