Double Dutch

22 January 2020 By Ed Cropley Follow @edwardcropley

The African tech group has sold $1.7 bln of shares in its Amsterdam spinoff Prosus, whose main asset is a $150 bln stake in the Chinese web giant. Using the funds to buy back stock has merit, but Naspers will have to be bolder if it wants to close the Dutch firm’s valuation gap.

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South Africa’s Naspers on Jan. 22 said it sold around 1.5 billion euros ($1.66 billion) worth of shares in Prosus, the international e-commerce investment group it listed in Amsterdam last September.

Naspers on Jan. 21 said it would place 22 million Prosus shares, priced at 67.5 euros each through an accelerated bookbuild with institutional investors. This increased Prosus' free-float to 27.5% from 26.2%, and reduced Naspers' holding to 72.5%.

The South African group said it will use the funds to buy back its own stock over time.

Prosus’ biggest asset is a 31% stake in Chinese web group Tencent.

Prosus shares fell around 3% at 1406 GMT on Jan. 22, while Naspers shares were up 0.6%.

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