Media and e-commerce firm Naspers has sold HK$76.95 ($9.8bn) of shares in Tencent, the China-based internet group in which it invested $32m in 2011.
Tencent operates a large-scale online services offering centred on its messaging app, WeChat, which has more than 1 billion users. As of the fourth quarter of 2017 it was the fifth most valuable company in the world, and it has a market capitalisation of about $505bn today.
Naspers acquired a 46.5% share of Tencent through its $32m investment, which took place three years before its initial public offering in Hong Kong, and currently holds 33.2%.
The company sold 190 million shares, equating to a 2% stake in Tencent, at a price of HK$405 each. Tencent’s share price fell 4.5% this morning in Hong Kong, though the price has since recovered, and Naspers pledged in a statement not to sell any more shares for a further three years.
The proceeds from the sale will be used to shore up Naspers’ balance sheet and fund an investment drive intended to boost its holdings in the online classified listings, food delivery and financial technology sectors.
Although none of its other investments have garnered the same return as Tencent, Naspers invested in Mail.ru, the Russia-based internet company with a $6.6bn market cap today, in 2007, and owns notable stakes in India-based e-commerce firm Flipkart and online travel agent MakeMyTrip.