French media giant Canal+ announced Thursday that it expects to achieve over ₦673 billion (€400 million) in annual cost savings by 2030 following its ₦5 trillion ($3 billion) acquisition of South African pay-TV operator MultiChoice, a deal that has transformed the company into a global entertainment powerhouse.
The ambitious synergy targets were revealed just four months after Canal+ completed its takeover of MultiChoice in September 2024, creating what the company describes as a unique global entertainment platform anchored in Europe and Africa. The announcement sent Canal+ shares soaring 14% to record highs as investors embraced the company’s integration roadmap.
Phased Savings Timeline
Canal+ expects over ₦252 billion (€150 million) in EBITDA cost synergies in 2026, over ₦505 billion (€300 million) by 2028, and over ₦673 billion (€400 million) by 2030. The company has also identified an additional ₦505 billion (€300 million) in free cash flow synergies expected from 2030 onwards.
CFO Amandine Ferré emphasised that ₦135 billion (€80 million) of cash savings have been “clearly identified and secured” to flow through in 2026. These early gains stem from renegotiated content deals, improved supplier terms for technology hardware and broadcast infrastructure, and debt refinancing that has already generated approximately ₦34 billion (€20 million) in savings.
The synergy program will incur one-off implementation costs of approximately ₦59 billion (€35 million) in 2026, ₦67 billion (€40 million) in 2028, and ₦34 billion (€20 million) in 2030.
Where the Savings Come From
Canal+ is already finding cost savings through suppliers of set-top boxes, cloud services and satellites, and has refinanced MultiChoice’s debt with a lower interest rate. The company’s increased scale following the acquisition has strengthened its negotiating position with content providers and technology vendors.
Working from a combined 2025 cost base of roughly ₦13.5 trillion (€8 billion), Canal+ identified numerous areas for operational efficiency. The company’s presence across 70 countries and combined subscriber base of over 40 million provides substantial leverage in supplier negotiations.
The Showmax Challenge
Not everything in the integration is proceeding smoothly. Ferré described MultiChoice’s streaming service Showmax as “a big issue” due to its losses, stating, “We won’t stay in this situation because the level of losses is not acceptable for us”.
CEO Maxime Saada revealed the company is in advanced discussions with Comcast about acquiring the US company’s 30% stake in Showmax. The streaming platform’s losses are factored into the synergy plan through reductions in marketing, content, and technology investment.
Africa’s Growth Potential
The MultiChoice acquisition was driven by two strategic objectives: capitalising on Africa’s growth opportunity and achieving scale to compete with Netflix and Disney. Saada highlighted compelling demographic indicators, including a population of about 1.2 billion today projected to grow by another 800 million by 2050, GDP growth forecasts near 5% over the next five years, and electrification currently at about 56% but rising.
With pay-TV penetration at roughly 32% and OTT penetration below 5%, Saada described the African market as “prime for growth on paid television”. Canal+ has already demonstrated success in French-speaking Africa, growing from 400,000 subscribers in 2010 to approximately 9 million customers today.
A Bold Bet on Scale
The acquisition, which became unconditional in September after receiving regulatory approval, represents Canal+’s largest transaction ever. The deal consolidates Canal+, MultiChoice, and China’s StarTimes into a dominant bloc controlling approximately 90% of Africa’s pay-TV market.
However, challenges remain. MultiChoice has experienced significant subscriber erosion, losing 3.7 million pay-TV customers between 2023 and 2025. The company also faces ongoing issues with currency devaluation, inflation, and infrastructure problems like load shedding that have hampered its commercial performance.
Canal+ management acknowledged that they did not conduct due diligence prior to the acquisition to continue purchasing shares in the market and considered it premature to quantify revenue synergies, given that they’ve only owned MultiChoice for just over four months. The focus remains squarely on cost synergies and subscriber growth as the integration unfolds.
As Ferré emphasised, “The bigger you are, the better leverage you will have in the discussion”, a principle Canal+ is betting will prove true as it navigates an increasingly competitive global entertainment landscape dominated by American streaming giants.
