South Africa’s Naspers launched a $100 billion European tech giant on Wednesday (Sept. 11).
Prosus holds the international internet assets of Naspers, including its 31 percent shareholding in Tencent, as well as Mail.ru, Ctrip.com International Limited, and Delivery Hero. Africa’s most valuable company will be the majority shareholder of Prosus, holding at least a 73 percent stake in the group alongside its South African businesses, Takealot and Media24.
Naspers first announced it would launch the new group back in March, simply calling it “NewCo” at the time.
The company explained the group is focused on building meaningful businesses in the online classifieds, payments, FinTech and food delivery sectors in markets including India, Russia and Brazil. It has a primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam, and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
After opening on the Amsterdam stock exchange at 76 euros a share on Wednesday, Prosus’ shares were around 74 euros by afternoon trading, according to the Financial Times.
It becomes the third-largest stock on the Amsterdam exchange after Shell and Unilever.
“The listing of Prosus is an exciting step forwards for the group, giving global technology investors direct access to our unique and attractive portfolio of international consumer internet businesses,” said Bob van Dijk, Group CEO of Prosus and Naspers, in a press release. “We operate and invest globally in markets with long-term growth potential, and our companies and associates help improve the daily lives of around a fifth of the world’s population. The listing on Euronext Amsterdam provides a strong foundation for our future growth ambitions. We will continue to seek opportunities to partner with exceptional entrepreneurs who are using technology to address big societal needs, and to create value for our shareholders.”
Some of the products and services of companies in the Prosus family include Avito, Brainly, BYJU’S, Codecademy, eMAG, Honor, iFood, LazyPay, letgo, Meesho, Movile, OLX, PayU, Red Dot Payments, Remitly, SimilarWeb, SoloLearn, Swiggy and Udemy.