Africa’s tech giant Naspers plans to issue 22-million new shares in its internet subsidiary Prosus.
The 22 million shares will be sold based on Tuesday’s closing price at R1,021 and raising R22.5 billion.
Africa’s most valuable company said in a statement on Wednesday that it intends to repatriate the proceeds to South Africa to buy back its own shares.
On 11 September 2019, Naspers listed its international internet assets Prosus on Euronext Amsterdam.
Prosus assets comprise its international internet interests outside of South Africa, including operations and investments in online classifieds, food delivery, payments and FinTech, etail, education, and social and internet platforms.
It also has a secondary, inward listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Prosus is 73.8% owned by Naspers, with a free float of 26.2%.
As Europe’s largest listed consumer internet company by asset value, Prosus gives global internet investors direct access to Naspers’s portfolio of international internet assets through exposure to China, India and other high-growth markets, as well as to the global tech sector. At the time of the listing, around $16 billion of value was unlocked for Naspers’s shareholders by reducing the discount to the combined net asset value of Prosus and Naspers.
Naspers said that since Prosus listed in Euronext, it had seen “significant interest” from new investors, in particular, European institutions and global technology investors.
“The placing will offer an opportunity to the broad investment community to get exposure to the largest listed European consumer internet stock by asset value and thereby continue to broaden Prosus’s shareholder base,” said Naspers ion a statement.
“None of the proceeds raised from the placing will be received by Prosus, and all of the proceeds received by Naspers, net of expenses and costs, will be repatriated to South Africa as required by the South African Reserve Bank.
“Naspers intends to use these net proceeds over time to return capital to Naspers shareholders in the form of a share repurchase programme.”
