Naspers To Create, List New Internet Company To House Tencent Stake

Naspers, the South African company, is gearing up to spin off and list its Amsterdam internet assets in a new group that will include all of its $134 billion stake in Tencent Holdings, the Chinese technology giant.

In a press release issued Monday (March 25), Naspers said it will list “NewCo,” a global consumer internet group, on Euronext Amsterdam, with a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa. In addition to Tencent, the new company will comprise all of its companies and investments in the sectors of online classifieds, food delivery, payments, etail, travel, education and social and internet platforms, among others. Some of those brands include Tencent, mail.ru, OLX, Avito, letgo, PayU, iFood and Swiggy, among others. NewCo is expected to be 75 percent owned by Naspers, with a free float of around 25 percent.

NewCo will be Europe’s largest internet company by asset value, noted the company. “Forming and listing a new, global consumer internet group on Euronext Amsterdam is a significant step for Naspers. It will provide a strong platform to attract incremental investor capital, which is well-aligned to our growth goals,” said Bob van Dijk, chief executive of Naspers, in the press release.

“The listing will present an appealing new opportunity for international tech investors to have access to our unique portfolio of international internet assets,” he continued. “It will comprise some of the world’s leading and fastest-growing internet companies that are playing an increasingly important role in helping people improve their daily lives in some of the most exciting markets on the planet. As well as opening up investment to a broader category of investors, the listing aims to reduce our weighting on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, which we believe will help us maximize shareholder value over time.”

Naspers said the listing on Euronext Amsterdam aims to help investors gain access to the company, which constitutes nearly 25 percent of the JSE SWIX index. That compares to 5 percent five years ago. The weighting now exceeds most South African institutional investors’ single stock limits, which means they may have to sell shares of Naspers as the company grows.