Economy

Naspers announces September date for Prosus listing

Date: Jul 19, 2019

Naspers plans to list its international internet assets, in a company called Prosus, on the Euronext Amsterdam Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on September 11.

The listing of Prosus was scheduled for July 17 this year but the internet and media giant delayed the listing after envelopes were sent to shareholders with incorrect information.

In a statement on Friday, Naspers said it will hold an extraordinary general meeting on August 23 for shareholders to vote on the listing. The proposed primary listing of Prosus will be in Amsterdam, and it will have a secondary, inward listing on the JSE.

"Naspers expects to own at least 73% of Prosus and the free float is expected to be up to 27%, created by Naspers through a capitalisation issue of Prosus shares to Naspers shareholders," the statement read.

Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk described the proposed listing is a "significant step. It present(s) a new opportunity for global internet investors to access our unique portfolio of international internet assets."

"The listing is designed to reduce our weighting on the JSE, which will address unhelpful market dynamics for our shareholders. We therefore believe the listing will help us maximise shareholder value over time," he said.

Prosus will comprise all of the group's internet interests outside of South Africa, including stakes in OLX, Tencent, Swiggy, DeliveryHero and Udemy, and more.

Naspers said that after the listing it will remain the largest SA company listed on the JSE by market capitalisation. The group, which said it plans to continue investing in SA, recently named Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa as Chief Executive Officer of its operations in SA.

Mahanyele-Dabengwa will also be responsible for Naspers' recently announced units - Naspers Foundry and Naspers Labs. Naspers Foundry is a R1.4 billion ($100 million) investment targeting local technology start-ups. It most recently announced its first investment in SA tech start-up SweepSouth.

--News24--

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