South African billionaire Koos Bekker’s net worth declines by $100 million as investors react to Prosus share purchase plans

South African billionaire Koos Bekker’s net worth has declined by $100 million since April, as Naspers shares fell amid expectations that Prosus will acquire 45.4 percent of Naspers’ non-voting shares.

Bekker is the chairman of Naspers, a Cape Town-based multinational consumer Internet company.

According to Forbes, Bekker, who had a net worth of $3 billion as of April 6, has seen his net worth decline by $100 million in 71 days.

The drop in his net worth can be traced to a fall in Naspers shares, as investors sold off shares in the company after the management attempted to reduce the difference between the value of its shares and the underlying value of its investment in the Chinese Internet and media firm Tencent.

Bekker led Naspers to invest in Tencent in 2001.

Earlier on May 12, Prosus, a Naspers subsidiary, proposed to implement a voluntary share exchange for Naspers shareholders. It did this with the view to deliver immediate and long-term value creation.

The proposal has been criticized by investment managers who believe it will add to the complexity of its share structure without achieving any reduction in the value difference.

The proposal has triggered a 7.7-percent decline in Naspers shares, down to $213.66 (R2,984) per share from $231.52 (R3,233) when the announcement was made.

Bekker derives most of his wealth from his stake in Naspers. According to Forbes, his net worth has declined from $3 billion to $2.9 billion. The investment in Tencent has proven to be one of his most profitable deals.

Prosus purchases Naspers shares worth $114.8 million under its share purchase program

Recently, Billionaires.Africa reported that Bekker’s stake had lost about $111.1 million in market value since Prosus announced plans to acquire Naspers shares. Since then, the company’s shares have lost an additional 2.23 percent of its market value.

Prosus announced on June 16 that it purchased 527,443 non-voting ordinary shares of Naspers between June 7 and 11 at an average price of $215.59 (R2,961.09) per share for a total consideration of $114.8 million (R1.56 billion).