Who owns Showmax?
Showmax is owned by Canal+ (France, LSE: CAN) through its subsidiary MultiChoice.[1]
MultiChoice owns 70% of Showmax rather than all of it.
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: The MultiChoice Group — companies and brands, MultiChoice Group Limited. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Canal+ SA via MultiChoice (70% stake) reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇫🇷 France, Issy-les-Moulineaux
- Origin
- 🇿🇦 South Africa
- Category
- Internet & digital › Streaming & media › Streaming video
- Parent ticker
- LSE: CAN
- Last verified
- · 3 sources
About Showmax
Showmax is MultiChoice's African streaming service, relaunched under a partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal and Sky. MultiChoice itself has been wholly owned by Canal+ since Canal+ completed its compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares on 5 December 2025, after which MultiChoice's stock-exchange listing was terminated.
Ownership timeline of Showmax
Where Showmax sits in Canal+
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Canal+ ownership tree →
See the full Canal+ brand portfolio (9) →
Other brands owned by Canal+
Canal+ controls 9 brands on Brandtree, 2 of them in internet & digital.
Also in internet & digital
Other brands in streaming video, and who owns them
The 37 brands in streaming video on Brandtree belong to 25 owners. The largest is AMC Networks, with 5.
About the owner: Canal+
Canal+ is a publicly listed company headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. Brandtree records 9 brands under its control, and it is listed as LSE: CAN.
Canal+ is a French pay-television and content group that was separated from Vivendi and listed on the London Stock Exchange on 16 December 2024. It took control of MultiChoice on 20 September 2025 and bought out the remaining shares by December, a deal that made it the largest media and entertainment provider in Africa and took the combined group past 40 million subscribers in more than 70 countries. Alongside the pay-TV business it owns the studio Studiocanal and the video platform Dailymotion.
🇿🇦 Showmax and other South African brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 175 brands that began in South Africa. 12 of them (7%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Showmax among them.
- Checkers Sixty60 — Shoprite Group 🇿🇦
- WooCommerce — Automattic 🇺🇸
- @home — TFG 🇿🇦
- Ackermans — Pepkor 🇿🇦
- Afrocentric — Sanlam 🇿🇦
- Airlink — Airlink 🇿🇦
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Showmax?
The parent company of Showmax is Canal+, a publicly listed company headquartered in France. Showmax sits under Canal+'s subsidiary MultiChoice.
Is Showmax South African or French?
Showmax originated in South Africa, but it is owned today by Canal+, which is headquartered in France. So Showmax is a South African-origin brand under French ownership.
Is Showmax still owned by Canal+?
Yes. As of 2 October 2026, Showmax is still owned by Canal+, through MultiChoice, which holds 70%. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (3) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] The MultiChoice Group — companies and brands — MultiChoice Group Limited, Official document; retrieved 24 September 2026.
- [2] CANAL+ SA Annual Report 2025 — Canal+ SA, Annual report; retrieved 24 September 2026.
- [3] CANAL+ SA — 2026 Half Year Report — Canal+ SA, Stock exchange filing; retrieved 24 September 2026.
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