Pan-African broadcaster MultiChoice has announced that it will make a further $89 million investment into streaming platform Showmax by 31 March 2024.
MultiChoice, the pay-TV giant that is the subject of an acquisition bid by Canal+, will invest $89 million into the revamped Showmax by March 31, 2024 according to a statement the company shared with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The investment will be part of a $129 million investment by MultiChoice and NBCUniversal which owns a 30% stake in Showmax. So far the two parties have invested $20 million into the streaming platform.
“Equity funding is provided monthly or at other intervals, depending on [Showmax’s] then current working capital requirements and as may be determined by the board of [Showmax] for budget purposes, subject to a maximum capped amount,” MultiChoice said in a statement to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The first tranche of the investment, $30 million, will be made tomorrow, February 2.
MultiChoice is positioning Showmax to be Africa’s premier streaming service and will relaunch the service later this month after a bunch of partnerships to increase its already large content library and improve the underlying technology. Some of its planned offerings include an English Premier League-only package, data-saving streaming bundles as well as content from NBCUniversal’s subsidiaries including SKY and HBO.
The pay-TV giant hopes these changes will help it achieve the goals of 50 million subscribers and $1 billion in revenue in five years, trading profit breakeven by 2027, a 25% EBITDA margin, and 20% free cash flow margins, both at scale. Additionally, Multichoice has bumped up its growth expectations of the platform by a multiple of three by 2032 and content production by a multiple of 10 by 2033.
