Power of Ten

8 April 2021 By Peter Thal Larsen Follow @Peter_TL

Selling a $14.6 bln stake in the Chinese internet giant restocks the South African group’s war chest. But its residual $220 bln shareholding towers over other investments. The best hope for investors is that Naspers finds a way to shrink its weighting on the Johannesburg bourse.

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Context News

Amsterdam-listed internet investor Prosus on April 8 said it had raised $14.6 billion from the sale of a 2% stake in Chinese internet giant Tencent in one of the world’s largest-ever block trades.

In a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing, Tencent said Prosus had sold 191.89 million shares at a price of HK$595, reducing Prosus’ stake to 28.9%. The price was a 5.5% discount to Tencent’s closing price on April 7. Prosus said it would not sell any more Tencent shares for at least three years.

The company, which is 73% owned by South Africa’s Naspers, said it planned to use the proceeds “to increase its financial flexibility for investing in growth, plus for general corporate purposes.”

Tencent shares were down 1.5% at HK$620 by 0900 GMT on April 8. Prosus shares were up 0.6% at 94.5 euros, while shares in Johannesburg-listed Naspers were up 0.1% at 3,489 rand.

Context News

Amsterdam-listed internet investor Prosus on April 8 said it had raised $14.6 billion from the sale of a 2% stake in Chinese internet giant Tencent in one of the world’s largest-ever block trades.

Tencent shares were down 1.5% at HK$620 by 0900 GMT on April 8. Prosus shares were up 0.6% at 94.5 euros, while shares in Johannesburg-listed Naspers were up 0.1% at 3,489 rand.

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