Amsterdam Based Company Prosus Is Set To Acquire Major Stake In Naspers!
Amsterdam Based Company Prosus Is Set To Acquire Major Stake In Naspers! Amsterdam-based technology investor Prosus on Wednesday announced plans to acquire up to 45.4% of shares in its parent, South Africa’s Naspers, by issuing new Prosus shares in a deal aimed at moving part of the value of their massive stake in Tencent to Europe from Africa.
Naspers, which has a controlling stake in Prosus and would retain control, hopes the deal will improve valuations for both companies. “The share offer we have announced today will extend Prosus’s standing as Europe’s largest Internet company,” said Bob van Dijk, CEO of both companies, in a statement.
According to Tech Central, Prosus shareholders would benefit as the Naspers N shares Prosus will buy trade at a deeper discount to the value of the Tencent stake than Prosus shares do. In recent weeks Naspers shares have traded at a discount of around 25% to the Tencent stake value, while Prosus trades at a 15% discount.
Naspers shareholders should see their share price trade more in line with the value of the Tencent stake, and Naspers will remain the largest company on the JSE, the companies said. They said they expect the deal to be implemented in the third quarter of 2021. Naspers Limited is a South African multinational consumer Internet company headquartered in Cape Town. Its principal operations include online classified advertising, fintech, payments, and food delivery. Founded in 1915 by Jannie Marais of Coetsenburg and attorney W.A. Hofmeyr; the company launched with the support of Jan Christiaan Smuts, Louis Botha, and National Party founding president J.B.M. Hertzog.
Naspers owns, or has controlling interest in, various businesses, including Media24 and Takealot. In 2001, Naspers made an early, successful investment of US$32 million, in Tencent. As of 2018, Naspers had approximately a 31 percent stake in Tencent, becoming its largest shareholder and Africa’s biggest public company. In recent years, Naspers has continued to build substantial holdings in consumer internet companies around the world, with a particular focus on India.
