COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

MultiChoice recommends Canal+ offer



An offer by France's Canal+ for the shares it does not own in South Africa's MultiChoice is "fair and reasonable" according to an independent board formed by the latter and reviewed by Standard Bank, the two broadcasters said on Tuesday.

MultiChoice appointed the bank to examine the all-cash mandatory offer which would create a pan-African broadcaster with about 31.5 million subscribers across more than 50 countries.



Canal+, part of French media group in April made a firm offer of 125 rand in cash per MultiChoice share, or about R35 billion rand, which valued the company at about R55 billion.

The offer is expected to close by April 2025.

Maxime Saada, chairman and CEO of CANAL+, said on a media call that the French company had already invested close to 1.2 billion euros buying a 45.2% stake in MultiChoice.



The two sides are assessing and finalising a suitable structure for the licensed activities of MultiChoice Group.

The French broadcaster will need to navigate South Africa's Black economic ownership requirements and restrictions on foreign media ownership, which caps voting rights at 20%.

"I don't see the Black economic empowerment as a hurdle," Saada said, adding "the foreign ownership is a hurdle".



However, the CEO said Canal+ had drawn a lot of interest from potential partners in South Africa though it was too early to disclose details, as first the deal must be approved by the regulator.

"I would rather, of course, it happens fast. Not because I'm impatient, but because the competition doesn't wait," Saada said.

The company also plans to have the new entity double-listed in Europe and Johannesburg between year-end and the first half of 2025.



-REUTERS-



Google won’t answer questions on new Umoja cable system



Google is keeping its cards close to its chest regarding the construction of a new undersea cable system called Umoja that will connect South Africa and Australia.



The US internet giant announced last month that the new cable – the first to connect Africa and Australia – would also have a terrestrial component running from Kenya, through Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe to South Africa, before crossing the Indian Ocean to Australia.



“Establishing a new route distinct from existing connectivity routes is critical to maintaining a resilient network for a region that has historically experienced high-impact outages,” Google said at the time.



Africa Connect is the name Google has given to the combination of Umoja and its recently completed high-capacity Equiano cable.



-TECHCENTRAL-



Nvidia is set to overtake Apple in market value



Nvidia could soon surpass Apple to become the world’s second most valuable company, as the kingmaker behind the AI revolution takes on the iPhone maker that has ruled Wall Street for decades.



The reliance of virtually all artificial intelligence applications such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT on Nvidia’s high-end chips has helped the stock nearly triple in value over the past year to US$2.72-trillion.



In contrast, Apple ceded its number-1 spot to Microsoft earlier this year as the once high-flying company grapples with weak demand for its iPhones and tough competition in China. It was last valued at $2.93-trillion.



“It is certainly notable because Apple has been so dominant for so long, especially on the growth and innovation front. Recently though, Apple’s innovation curve seems to have flattened, showing slower future growth,” said Brian Mulberry, client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management.



“On the other hand, Nvidia has been able to catch wave upon wave of growth. Beginning with gaming demand, then crypto and now AI, they have been able to perfectly match innovation with demand and that equals explosive growth.”



The semiconductor company is heavily weighted on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq and has been pivotal in driving US stocks to record highs. It accounted for more than a third of the S&P 500’s gains this year.



Nvidia also became the fastest company to grow from $1-trillion to $2-trillion in 2024, zooming past Amazon, Alphabet and Saudi Aramco.



Soaring

Since its blowout forecast about a year ago, the company has consistently breezed past Wall Street’s lofty expectations for revenue and profit, with demand for its graphic processors far outstripping supply as Big Tech rushes to embed AI applications.



Sharp increases in analysts’ earnings estimates have resulted in a fall in the stock’s forward earnings valuation, even with the share price racing higher.



It traded at 37x forward earnings, compared with 48x earnings a year ago, LSEG data showed.



-TECHCENTRAL-



Boeing's Calhoun says board will decide his successor



Boeing's outgoing CEO David Calhoun told Reuters on Tuesday that the planemaker's board would decide his successor and he would support its choice.

Calhoun is set to step down by the end of the year as part of a broad management shakeup brought on by the planemaker's safety crisis, exacerbated by a January mid-air panel blowout on a new 737 MAX plane operated by Alaska Airlines.

Speculation has grown over his successor. Calhoun supports Stephanie Pope, the head of Boeing's commercial division, while investors, analysts and others have called for a new top executive with both CEO and engineering experience.

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"The board is prepared to make their decisions, they have time to be able to make them," Calhoun told Reuters on the sidelines of an aviation conference in Berlin, adding that he is committed to getting the company through its recovery.

Later on stage, Calhoun said he would support whoever is chosen for the role.

"It has been thought through. Okay, we'll get to a conclusion. It'll be a great one, and I'll be the most supportive player in the field," he said.



Calhoun has been a Boeing board member since 2009, and was named CEO in 2020 to help turn the U.S. plane maker around following two fatal crashes involving the MAX, its strongest-selling jet.

However, Boeing has lost market share to competitor Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab and its share price has fallen nearly 32% this year as production of the MAX plummeted this spring.



Calhoun reiterated the planemaker's commitment to safety and transparency, especially in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident, emphasizing that Boeing was now a "different" company.

Boeing is also under renewed scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department, which is weighing whether to advance criminal charges against the company for violating a non-prosecution agreement stemming from the two crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed nearly 350 people.



REUTERS-



Australia's Qantas back Boeing to bounce back from crisis



Australian airline Qantas on Tuesday backed Boeing to bounce back from an unprecedented crisis that has led to an overhaul of the American planemaker's management and drawn scrutiny and criticism from some of its biggest customers.

Boeing is searching for a new chief executive after announcing that Dave Calhoun would step down by the end of the year following back-to-back crises that were exacerbated by the blowout of the a loose door plug on a Boeing plane in January.



"Aviation needs a strong Boeing," Qantas Chief Executive Vanessa Hudson told reporters at an airline summit in Dubai.

Hudson, who took over as the head of Australia's biggest airline last year, said she had spoken with Boeing management and was confident they are focused on addressing quality issues.

"Everything that we've heard from Boeing gives me the sense that they will get on top of it," she said.



Asked about what qualities Boeing's next CEO should have, Hudson said any chief executive should be connected with frontline employees, customers and key stakeholders.

"I would suggest that for Boeing, that they are important qualities to really understand how a basic organisation operates," she said.