Canal+ IPO: what you need to know and how to trade shares
The Canal+ IPO is on the horizon, most likely to be floated on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Find out when it will take place, how you can trade the company’s shares and learn more about its business model.
Canal+ is a global media company founded in November 1984 as a premium subscription channel under the Canal+ Groupe banner. The company offers content tailored to its individual markets, with over 100 channels specifically made for its worldwide viewership.
In July 2024, Canal+ announced it would be exploring a listing, most likely in London. However, the location hasn’t yet been confirmed, with rumours of a floatation in Amsterdam doing the rounds, too.1
It’s working with various advisers, including BNP Paribas, to go public.2 This means you’ll be able to trade share CFDs with us once it has floated.
When could the Canal+ IPO take place?
The Canal+ IPO could take place as early as the end of 2024, but no final decision on timing has been announced yet.
There would also be a secondary listing in Johannesburg, South Africa when the company goes public. Vivendi, the streaming service’s holding company, is set to take over MultiChoice, Africa’s largest pay-TV operator, putting the majority of its viewership outside of France.
How to trade Canal+ shares if the company lists
If you're interested in trading contracts for differences (CFDs) on Canal+ once it goes public, here's a step-by-step guide on how to do that:
- Do your research on IPOs: before trading, it's crucial to understand the risks and potential rewards associated with IPO trading. Familiarise yourself with Canal+'s business model, financials and growth prospects
- Open a CFD trading account: to trade shares, you'll need a CFD trading account. We offer a user-friendly platform for trading shares in newly listed companies
- After the listing, search for Canal+ on our platform: once Canal+ is listed, you can find it by searching for its ticker symbol or company name on the IG platform
- Choose the number of shares you want to trade: decide how many shares you want to go long or short on based on your market expectations and risk tolerance
- Open your trade: execute your order to buy or sell Canal+ shares
You can trade Canal+ shares with us using a leveraged product – a CFD trading account. When you trade using leverage, you borrow funds to magnify your position size. This means you could gain or lose money quickly, and could end up losing more than your initial deposit. It's a higher-risk way to trade and requires thorough risk management.
Trading shares means you never actually own the underlying asset, so you can trade rising and falling markets.
Access over 10,000+ international shares via CFD trading with us.
What will Canal+ be valued at and what could the share price be?
Canal+ is yet to be valued and its share price is undetermined. However, martech analyst, Alex DeGroote, believes it could be looking at a valuation of between €6 billion – €7 billion.3
When valuing a private company prior to it floating on a stock exchange, an investment bank is hired to help determine the value of the business and its shares. The bank will take into account numerous factors:
Comparable companies
It will look at similar companies within the same industry as a benchmark for what the soon-to-IPO business should be valued at. Investors are most likely to pay similar amounts for industry-related companies, so this is a logical way to determine a company’s value.
Demand for stocks
High demand for a company’s shares will drive up its valuation, even if the business isn’t actually worth that. Companies tend to IPO when there’s a decent enough demand for their stock.
Growth projections
In Canal+’s case, the purpose of its pending IPO is to raise capital for further growth. If its expansion plans are aggressive, then it’s more likely to be valued at a higher figure.
Narrative
Unlike the others in this list, the company’s story isn’t a quantifiable determining factor. Companies with new business models or groundbreaking technology tend to be valued higher due to the excitement around their offering.
In addition, some businesses might hire industry experts and seasoned leaders to bolster the company’s reputation, driving up the valuation.
What is the Canal+ business model?
The Canal+ business model is pay-TV, provided internationally in countries across Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean.4
Vivendi announced in December 2023 that it plans to split three of its businesses into separate entities: Canal+, Havas and a newly named company, Louis Hachette Group.5 This, along with the IPO of Canal+, are part of owner Vincent Bollore’s efforts to reach a higher market value for the company, which he believes is currently undervalued.
Canal+ claims to be accelerating its distribution strategy, providing joint offers with major international telecom operators, such as A1 Telekom Austria.
It’s also made its way into hardware; in 2023, it launched a 4K connected decoder which promises an ‘immersive, ultra-fast experience, with access to more than 50,000 programmes on demand and more than 200 live channels.’4
1 Financial Times, 2024
2 Reuters, 2024
3 The Media Leader, 2024
4 Canal Plus Group, 2024
5 Financial Times, 2024
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