Canal+ Group, the pay-TV division of French media and telecom giant Vivendi, announced on Thursday, that it had raised its stake in the Asian streaming service Viu to 36.8 percent.
In June 2023, by acquiring a 26.1 percent stake from Hong Kong’s PCCW Group, Canal+ made its initial investment in Viu, led by CEO Janice Lee. This deal included an option for Canal+ to pay an additional amount to boost its stake to a 51 percent majority. Notably, the conditions required to pursue a majority stake in the Hong Kong-based video streamer have not yet been specified by Canal+ however, it emphasized its interest in the Asian market.
Canal+ said in a statement, “This investment is a renewed testimony to Canal+’s commitment to develop Asia as one of the group’s growth engines and underlines Canal+’s confidence in Viu and its team.”
With support from PCCW, Viu, launched in 2015, across 16 regions in Asia, the Middle East, and South Africa provides both ad-supported and subscription-based video services. When announcing the Canal+ deal last year, Viu reported over 66 million monthly active users and 12 million paid subscribers, primarily based in Asia. The platform is known for licensing and producing original Korean content, while also creating original content in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Canal+ boasts a global subscriber base of 26.4 million, with 17.1 million in Europe, 8.1 million in Africa, and 1.2 million in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to its investment in Viu, Canal+ holds the largest stake in African pay-TV leader MultiChoice and Scandinavian pay-TV and streaming firm Viaplay. Earlier this year, the company also acquired a stake in Marodi TV, a prominent production company in Senegal.