Naspers spun off its technology arm into a technology investment company called Prosus and it went public in 2019. It owns Naspers’ technology investments and is technically a lot larger than the rest of Naspers. One of its headline properties is a sizeable stake in Chinese technology giant Tencent. Prosus has decided to sell a 2% stake in Tencent in an accelerated offering to institutional investors, valued at R218 billion at current share prices.
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The sale will lower its stake in Tencent from 30.9% to 28.9%, which it has said it will not reduce further for at least three years. Prosus shares fell about 4% after the announcement. It had informed Tencent of the planned move before the announcement was made.
“The proceeds of the sale will increase our financial flexibility, enabling us to invest in the significant growth potential we see across the group, as well as in our own stock,” CEO Bob van Dijk said in a statement.
