Naspers sets 95b euro value for assets including Tencent

[JOHANNESBURG] Naspers Ltd is all set to list Internet assets including Tencent Holdings Ltd in Amsterdam after valuing the newly created group at about 95 billion euros (S$144.85 billion).

New entity Prosus NV will have 1.62 billion shares priced at 58.70 euros each when it debuts at 9am on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Euronext stock exchange. The firm will become the Netherlands' third-largest listed company, behind Royal Dutch Shell and Unilever.

Naspers will retain 73 per cent of the new company, which will house everything from a 31 per cent stake in Chinese online giant Tencent to food delivery and advertising firms from the US to India and Brazil. Africa's biggest company by market value built up the portfolio of global assets after investing in Tencent as a startup, turning a US$32 million outlay into a stake currently worth US$128 billion.

The listing is designed to achieve two main objectives for Cape Town-based Naspers. First, chief executive officer Bob van Dijk wants to attract more international investors to assign more value to the company's non-Tencent assets, which the market rates at less than zero. Second, the spinoff will reduce Naspers's dominance of Johannesburg's stock exchange.

"Outside of Tencent, Naspers' biggest asset is its exposure to online classifieds," said Alastair Jones, an analyst at New Street Research in London. "The business is monetising in 10 countries and already reports US$875 million of revenues, with the potential to begin monetising in another 20 countries. The opportunity is therefore massive, and execution is key."

Naspers shares traded 0.2 per cent lower at 3,522.82 rand at the close in Johannesburg on Tuesday, valuing the company at 1.6 trillion rand (S$150.55 billion).

BLOOMBERG