Prosus nets $14.6 billion from sale of Tencent stake

(C) Reuters. FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A Tencent logo is seen at its booth at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing

By Toby Sterling and Scott Murdoch

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Amsterdam-based technology investor Prosus (OTC:PROSF) NV has netted $14.6 billion from the sale of a 2% stake in Tencent Holdings (OTC:TCEHY) Ltd, the Chinese gaming and social media giant said, in one of the world’s largest ever block trades.

“Our belief in Tencent and its management team is steadfast, but we also need to fund continued growth in our core business lines and emerging sectors,” Prosus Chairman Koos Bekker said in a statement after the completion of the deal on Thursday.

In a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing, Tencent said Prosus sold 191.89 million shares for HK$114.1 billion, reducing its stake to 28.9%.

That works out at HK$595 ($76.44) per share, at the top of an indicative range of HK$575 to $HK595 set out when Prosus announced its intention to sell the stake in an accelerated offering on Wednesday afternoon.

The price was a 5.5% discount to Tencent’s Wednesday close of $HK629.50. Tencent stock, which is up 10% so far this year, opened down 2.5% in Hong Kong on Thursday following the news.

The block trade – a trade of a large number of securities – was the largest of Tencent stock since 2018 when Naspers sold 2% of the group for $9.8 billion, Refinitiv data showed.

Prosus also invests in online food delivery platforms, classified marketplaces and digital payments businesses.

For the half-year ended Sept. 30, it reported a 29% increase in core earnings to $2.2 billion, as proceeds from its Tencent stake offset losses at other online interests.

Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) were joint global coordinators for the sale.

($1 = 0.8425 euros)

($1 = 7.7849 Hong Kong dollars)