A Swiss-based investment management firm says the proposed share swap between Naspers and Prosus is an “idiotic idea” that is certain to increase the discount with Tencent.
Browsing: Naspers
For now, Naspers and Prosus CEO Bob van Dijk has managed to figure out a short-term fix for his problem. Eventually he’ll need to think longer term. By Alex Webb.
Ultimately, investors may have to learn to live with the valuation gap between Naspers and Tencent. And management may have to ignore complaints about it and focus on growing Prosus’s investments.
Prosus on Wednesday announced plans to acquire up to 45.4% of shares in parent Naspers in a deal aimed at moving part of the value of their massive stake in Tencent to Europe from Africa.
JSE-listed Transaction Capital said on Wednesday that it is in talks to increase its stake in WeBuyCars to 74.9%, a move that will give it control over the South African online car marketplace.
Prosus suffers from the same problem as Manchester City Football Club: Because everyone knows it has access to vast amounts of capital, it’s always at risk of overpaying for acquisitions.
Investors in Naspers said on Thursday they want proceeds from a $14.7-billion stake sale in its Tencent Holdings investment to go towards blockbuster acquisitions or a share buyback.
Shares of Tencent Holdings dropped in Hong Kong after Naspers unit Prosus priced its placement of the Chinese Internet giant’s stock at the top end of a marketed range, raising $14.7-billion.
Naspers spin-off, technology investment company Prosus, plans to sell a 2% stake in China’s Tencent, worth about R218-billion at current prices, in an accelerated offering to institutional investors.
Naspers has hired a top Airbnb and former Amazon executive to lead its global online classifieds business, it said on Thursday, as the technology investor looks to shore up contributions from core businesses.