Prosus N.V., a global Internet group led by South African billionaire Koos Bekker, has announced the sale of its entire stake in JD.com Inc., China’s largest online retailer, for about $3.67 billion.
The move is consistent with the group’s plan to sell down a massive investment in the Asia-Pacific, including a 28.8-percent stake in Chinese software giant Tencent, which is presently valued at around $134 billion, in order to fund its share-purchase program.
The share-purchase program is a strategic move aimed at improving capital allocation, net asset value, and closing the gap between the market value of Prosus, Naspers, and its 28.8-percent stake in Tencent.
According to Prosus CFO Basil Sgourdos, the move will unlock immediate value for shareholders because the Internet group will sell Tencent shares at full value while buying back its stock at a significant discount.
While establishing the procedure for the planned buyback, Prosus and Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk stated that the process will be gradual, without specifying a timeframe, or total size of the sales.
Prosus N.V., founded in 1997 under the leadership of Bekker, has grown into a global consumer Internet group and one of the world’s largest technology investors.
The group, which is a subsidiary of Naspers, a leading South African multinational conglomerate also led by Bekker, has an international portfolio of investments in leading global fintech, social media, ed-tech, and food delivery system companies.
Prosus announced on Monday that the sale of its four-percent stake in JD.com was concluded last Friday through a series of open market sales, resulting in a $255-million accumulated fair-value loss for the Amsterdam-based Internet group.
It also reported a 24-percent increase in revenue from $28.8 billion to $35.6 billion at the end of its 2022 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, driven by strong growth across all of its operating segments.
Meanwhile, its core headline earnings fell 20 percent to $3.7 billion, reflecting a lower contribution from Tencent, increased investment in growth and strategic M&A, and higher finance costs.
