Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk has acquired an additional 122,750 ordinary shares at a cost of €8.9 million ($10.09 million) in Prosus N.V., the Netherlands-based international Internet assets division of the South African multinational group, Naspers.
The acquisition of Prosus’ shares will see van Dijk join the likes of Koos Bekker, the chairman of Naspers and Prosus, as a significant individual shareholder in the company. Bekker holds a beneficial 0.27-percent stake in the Internet conglomerate. His stake is valued at $484.2 million.
Data retrieved from SimplyWall St revealed that the Dutch businessman acquired 122,750 shares in a single deal executed at a price of €72.54 ($82.2) per share on Jan. 5.
In exchange for the minority stake, van Dijk spent a cash consideration of €8.9 million ($10.09 million) to join the long list of minority shareholders in the Netherlands-based Internet investor.
His share acquisition comes nearly two weeks after Prosus announced the successful buy-back of its shares worth $118.5 million.
The Dutch multinational conglomerate repurchased 1,507,243 ordinary shares at an average price of €69.61 ($79.2) per share for a total consideration of €104,915,418.70 ($118,544,498.01). The transaction occurred on Dec. 20-24.
In the first half of its current 2022 financial year, the conglomerate reported $15.9 billion in profits despite the $304-million operating losses that it suffered in its e-commerce segment.
Compared to last year’s figures, Prosus’ profit after tax soared by 424 percent during the half-year period from $3.02 billion in the first half of 2021 to $15.9 billion in the corresponding period of its 2022 financial year.
Aside from the 31-percent growth in the group’s revenue in terms of economic interest from $12.69 billion to $16.63 billion, the half-year financial performance was supported by the trimming down of its Tencent holdings, which led to a one-off gain of $12.3 billion.
Its stake in Tencent, a Chinese Internet gaming and social media group, continues to deliver as one of Prosus’s most profitable investments to date.Â
As of press time, Jan. 10, shares in Prosus were trading at a price of €70.62 ($80). At this price Prosus’ market capitalization is €145.56 billion ($164.95 billion).
