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(32 minutes later)
French media company Canal+ has made an offer of $2.9bn (£2.2bn) to fully acquire South African broadcasting company MultiChoice.
It is a more attractive price compared to the $1.7bn bid that it presented MultiChoice in February, which MultiChoice's board rejected as undervaluing the company. Kenyan doctors working in public hospitals have vowed not to go back to work despite President William Ruto's appeal to end a weeks-long strike that has hampered health services in the country.
MultiChoice is Africa's largest provider of subscription TV services, which include DSTv and streaming service Showmax. The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) went on strike on 14 March over the non-payment of salary arrears, delays by the government to deploy medical interns and other grievances.
Canal+ already owns 35% of MultiChoice and is the majority shareholder in the South African company. On Sunday, President Ruto urged the striking doctors to reconsider their stance, saying that his government was unable to meet their demands due to the ballooning wage bills.
The intended acquisition of MultiChoice is part of Canal+'s strategy to expand its presence on the continent beyond West African and French-speaking countries. “I know we have a situation in Kenya facing our doctors and (medical doctor) interns but I want to implore them that we as a nation need to agree that we must live within our means, fellow countrymen and women,” Mr Ruto said.
Canal+ operates in 25 African countries and is the leading operator for pay TV services in French-speaking African countries. But in response, KMPDU secretary general Davji Atellah said, "we cannot backtrack on our salaries to exploitation in the name of the wage bill".
MultiChoice's profits have declined in recent years, amid growing competition from streaming services. "The doctors' salary is important [just] like the salary of any Kenyan," Mr Atellah said.
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