Naspers, One of South Africa’s Largest Corporations, Is Restructuring and Listing in Amsterdam
Naspers announced that it will list NewCo, a new global consumer Internet group, on Euronext Amsterdam.
“NewCo will also have a secondary, inward listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa,” said Naspers.
NewCo will be made up of Naspers’ “Internet interests outside of South Africa”. This includes its companies and investments in the online classifieds, food delivery, payments, etail, travel, education, and social and Internet platforms segments.
Companies included in these segments are Tencent, mail.ru, OLX, Avito, letgo, PayU, iFood, Swiggy, DeliveryHero, Udemy, eMAG, and MakeMyTrip.
“NewCo is expected to be approximately 75% owned by Naspers and have a free float of approximately 25%. As Europe’s largest listed consumer Internet company by asset value, NewCo will give global Internet investors direct access to Naspers’ unique and attractive portfolio of international Internet assets.”
The transaction will be subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, and is expected to be implemented in 2019.
Bob van Dijk, Naspers CEO, said that forming this new company will allow them to attract investor capital.
“The listing aims to reduce our weighting on the JSE, which we believe will help us maximise shareholder value over time,” said van Dijk.
He said that the company’s “outsized weighting on the JSE exceeds most South African institutional investors’ single stock limits” – and as a result, many have been forced to sell as Naspers grows.
Naspers said it will retain its primary listing on the JSE and will continue to directly hold its South African assets – Takealot and Media24 – alongside its majority stake in NewCo.
“NewCo’s free float is expected to be created by Naspers through a capitalisation issue of NewCo shares to Naspers shareholders.”
Naspers N shareholders will be issued with newly-created Naspers M Ordinary Shares, which can be exchanged for NewCo shares once the latter is listed. Alternatively, these shareholders can choose to be issued with additional Naspers N Ordinary Shares.
NewCo is set to be discussed with shareholders on 28 June in Cape Town.
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