Meyersdal Eco Estate in the south of Johannesburg is an impressive private residential area, comprising posh houses, apartments, complexes, farms, open land with roaming animals, and walking and cycling trails.

For a visitor like me, it was awesome, fit for the well-heeled and discerning, those who insist on only the best.

It was Monday when I visited my friend there, Bukhosi, who was turning 40. He wanted to share details of his birthday celebration, which he said was themed in his name, which translates as “one of royalty and a prince hood”. Bukhosi is, by any measure, a successful young man, originally from Newcastle in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

The opulence was obvious. Upon my arrival at his luxurious house, Bukhosi presented me with a bottle of Glenfiddich 30-year-old Suspended Time Re-Imagined. I made a mental note about its cost, which was worth a good chunk of my son’s annual school fees.

While I was opening the bottle, Bukhosi started fiddling with his Rotel sound system. He played a hit song by the late Kwaito star Tokollo “Magesh” Tshabalala, titled Ndlovu Iyangena, which loosely translates as “making an unapologetic grand entrance”.

“Does the classical song fit this blessed day?” I asked.

MultiChoice, led by Calvo Mawela, seems steadfast in transforming the satellite TV service into a tech-centric company. However, this strategy may not align with the intentions of its suitor, Canal+.

The French media giant has offered R125 in cash for every MultiChoice share it does not already own and has invested nearly €1.2bn for a 45.2% stake in the company.

Maxime Saada, chair and CEO of Canal+, has remarked: “Almost one of the only differences” between Canal+ and MultiChoice is the latter’s “belief in diversification”.

In a recent meeting with journalists in Johannesburg, Saada emphasised Canal+’s focus on content distribution as its core business. When asked if Canal+ would divest MultiChoice’s noncore businesses, Saada indicated it was too early to decide until due diligence was completed.

Meanwhile, MultiChoice continues to advance its strategy to develop its platform beyond pure video entertainment. On Tuesday, it announced plans to sell a 60% stake in its insurance business, NMS Insurance Services (NMSIS), to Sanlam Life for R1.2bn, with a potential performance-based earn-out of up to R1.5bn by December 2026.

This deal includes a long-term commercial arrangement to expand insurance offerings to MultiChoice’s 21-million household subscriber base across 50 African countries. Sanlam will manage NMSIS operations through its Sanlam Fintech cluster.

In February, MultiChoice sold a 30% stake in its video-on-demand platform, Showmax, to US-based Comcast, which helped to develop the new Showmax platform. This move, in particular, raises questions such as: will Canal+ buy Comcast’s stake in Showmax or collaborate with it?

Saada noted that Canal+ had yet to conduct due diligence and did not know the terms of the Comcast deal, making it difficult to judge its effect on MultiChoice.

MultiChoice’s partnership with Comcast could pose a challenge for Canal+ as the US-based broadcaster also aims to expand in Africa.