Tencent falls after Naspers sells HK$76.9b stake at discount
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[HONG KONG] Tencent Holdings Ltd slumped in Hong Kong after Naspers Ltd, its biggest investor, raised HK$76.9 billion (S$12.9 billion) selling stock at a discount.
Shares fell as much as 7.8 per cent to HK$405 in early trade. Naspers, a South African media and investment company, sold 190 million shares, according to an exchange filing on Friday. That suggests a price of HK$405 per share, according to Bloomberg calculations. That's the midpoint of earlier guidance of HK$400 to HK$410 per share, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Naspers, which still has a major stake in Shenzhen-based Tencent, is cashing in a sliver of one of the greatest venture-capital investments ever. The stake Naspers bought for just US$32 million in 2001 - when Tencent was an obscure Internet firm in a nation where few people used the Web - was valued at US$175 billion on Thursday.
Naspers will use the money from the sale of Tencent shares to invest in its classifieds, online food delivery and fintech businesses and make other investments. A representative for Naspers couldn't immediately be reached for further comment.
BLOOMBERG
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