Accelerated Offering of Tencent shares by Prosus N.V.
7.4.2021 13:58:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, INTO OR IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA OR JAPAN OR INTO ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH OFFERS OR SALES WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR FORM AN OFFER OF SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION.
THE SHARES TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES HAVE NOT BEEN AND WILL NOT BE REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "SECURITIES ACT"), AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT. THERE WILL NOT BE A PUBLIC OFFERING OF SUCH SHARES IN THE UNITED STATES OR IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.
Prosus N.V. (Prosus) (Euronext Amsterdam: PRX; JSE: PRX) today announced its intention to sell, through its subsidiary MIH TC Holdings Limited, up to 191 890 000 shares in Tencent Holdings Limited (Tencent), equal to 2% of Tencent's issued share capital, reducing its stake from approximately 30,9% to 28,9%.
Prosus intends to use the proceeds of the sale to increase its financial flexibility to invest in growth, plus for general corporate purposes.
Prosus also announced a commitment not to sell any further Tencent shares for at least the next 3 years.
Prosus chair Koos Bekker said, “Tencent is one of the world’s best growth enterprises. It has consistently delivered value since listing in 2004. Prosus’s commitment to Tencent remains steadfast. Through the sale of this small portion, Prosus intends to fund continued growth in our core business lines and emerging sectors, as well as allow for complementary acquisitions.”
“We have informed Tencent of our intention, which is understood and supported by Tencent. We commit that we will not sell further Tencent shares for at least the next 3 years, in line with our long-term belief in the business.”
Prosus CEO Bob van Dijk highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation across the group’s growth sectors, mainly online classifieds, food delivery, payments and fintech, education, and ecommerce. “The proceeds of the sale will increase our financial flexibility, enabling us to invest in the significant growth potential we see across the group, as well as in our own stock.”
The parcel of Tencent shares will be offered to institutional investors globally, subject to customary selling restrictions. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been appointed Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Book Runners to manage the transaction. Books are open now and are expected to close prior to the Hong Kong opening. The Joint Global Coordinators reserve the right to accelerate closing of the books.
About Prosus
Prosus is a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Operating and investing globally in markets with long-term growth potential, Prosus builds leading consumer internet companies that empower people and enrich communities.
The group is focused on building meaningful businesses in the online classifieds, food delivery, and payments and fintech sectors in markets including India, Russia and Brazil. Through its ventures team, Prosus invests in areas including edtech and health, Prosus actively seeks new opportunities to partner with exceptional entrepreneurs who are using technology to improve people’s daily lives.
Every day, millions of people use the products and services of companies that Prosus has invested in, acquired or built, including Avito, Brainly, BYJU’S, Bykea, Codecademy, DappRadar, dott, ElasticRun, eMAG, Eruditus, Honor, iFood, Klar, LazyPay, letgo, Meesho, Movile, OLX, PayU, Red Dot Payment, Remitly, SimilarWeb, Shipper, Skillsoft, SoloLearn, Swiggy, and Udemy.
Hundreds of millions of people have made the platforms of its associates a part of their daily lives. For listed companies where we have an interest, please see: Tencent (www.tencent.com; SEHK:00700), Mail.ru (www.corp.mail.ru; LSE:MAIL), Trip.com Group Limited (“Trip.com”) (NASDAQ:TCOM), and DeliveryHero (www.deliveryhero.com; Xetra:DHER).
Today, Prosus companies and associates help improve the lives of around a fifth of the world’s population.
Prosus has a primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam (AEX:PRX) and secondary listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (XJSE:PRX) and A2X Markets (PRX.AJ), and is majority owned by Naspers.
For more information, please visit www.prosus.com
Disclaimer
This announcement is for information purposes only and is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities and neither this document nor anything herein nor any copy thereof may be taken into or distributed, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States (including its territories and dependencies, any State of the United States and the District of Columbia), Canada or Japan or any other jurisdiction in which offers or sales would be prohibited by applicable law. This announcement does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in any jurisdiction, including the United States. The shares mentioned herein (“the Shares”) have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Shares may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to registration or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There is no intention to make a public offering of the Shares in the United States or in any other jurisdiction.
The information contained in this announcement does not constitute or form a part of any offer to the public for the sale of, or subscription for, or an invitation, advertisement or the solicitation of an offer to purchase and/or subscribe for, securities as defined in and/or contemplated by the South African Companies Act, No. 71 of 2008 ("South African Companies Act"). Accordingly, this announcement does not, nor does it intend to, constitute a “registered prospectus”, as contemplated by the South African Companies Act and no prospectus has been, or will be, filed with the South African Companies and Intellectual Property Commission in respect of this announcement.
In the European Economic Area (the "EEA"), this announcement is only addressed to and directed at persons in member states of the EEA who are "qualified investors" ("Qualified Investors") within the meaning of Article 2(e) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (as amended) (the "EU Prospectus Regulation"). In the United Kingdom, this announcement is only addressed to and directed at persons who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the EU Prospectus Regulation, which forms part of domestic UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, who are also: (i) persons having professional experience in matters relating to investments who fall within the definition of "investment professionals" in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order"); or (ii) high net worth entities falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order; or (iii) are other persons to whom it may otherwise lawfully be communicated (all such persons being "Relevant Persons"). This announcement must not be acted or relied on (i) in the United Kingdom, by persons who are not Relevant Persons and (ii) in any member state of the EEA by persons who are not Qualified Investors. Any investment activity to which this announcement relates (i) in the United Kingdom is available only to, and may be engaged in only with, Relevant Persons and (ii) in any member state of the EEA is available only to, and may be engaged only with, Qualified Investors. Persons who are not Qualified Persons or Relevant Persons should not take any action on the basis of this announcement and should not act or rely on it.
The distribution of this announcement and the offering of the Shares (“the Offering”) in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. No action has been taken by Prosus, any of the Joint Global-coordinators, or any of their respective affiliates, or any other person that would permit an offer of the Shares or possession or distribution of this announcement or any other offering or publicity material relating to the Offering or sale in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes must inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.
This announcement has been issued by and is the sole responsibility of Prosus. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by any of the Joint Global-coordinators or by any of their respective affiliates or agents as to, or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.
No prospectus or other offering document has been or will be prepared in connection with the Offering. This announcement does not purport to identify or suggest the risks (direct or indirect) which may be associated with an investment in the Shares. Any investment decision to buy Shares must be made solely on the basis of publicly available information. Such information has not been prepared or verified by any of the Joint Global-coordinators or any of their affiliates.
The information contained in this announcement may contain forward-looking statements, estimates and projections. Forward-looking statements involve all matters that are not historical and may be identified by the words “anticipate”, ”believe”, ”estimate”, ”expect”, ”intend”, ”may”, ”should”, ”will”, ”would” and similar expressions or their negatives, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These statements reflect Prosus’s intentions, beliefs or current expectations, involve elements of subjective judgment and analysis and are based upon the best judgment of Prosus as of the date of this announcement, but could prove to be wrong. These statements are subject to change without notice and are based on a number of assumptions and entail known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Therefore, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Any forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this announcement and neither Prosus nor any other person gives any undertaking, or is under any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements for events or circumstances that occur subsequent to the date of this announcement or to update or keep current any of the information contained herein, any changes in assumptions or changes in factors affecting these statements and this announcement is not a representation by Prosus or any other person that they will do so, except to the extent required by law.
Each of the Joint Global-coordinators are acting for Prosus only in connection with the Offering and no one else, and will not be responsible to anyone other than Prosus for providing the protections offered to clients of each of the Joint Global-coordinators nor for providing advice in relation to the Offering.
In connection with the Offering mentioned herein, one or more of the Joint Global-coordinators and/or their respective affiliates acting as an investor for their own account may take up as a proprietary position any Shares and in that capacity may retain, purchase or sell for their own account such shares. In addition, certain of the Joint Global-coordinators or their affiliates may enter into financing arrangements and swaps with investors in connection with which the Joint Global-coordinators (or their affiliates) may from time to time acquire, hold or dispose of Shares. The Joint Global-coordinators do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligation to do so.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210407005525/en/
Contact information
Eoin Ryan
Head of Investor Relations
Tel: +1 347-210-4305
Email: eoin.ryan@prosus.com
Sarah Ryan
Media Relations, International
Mobile: +31 6 297 21038
Email: sarah.ryan@prosus.com
Shamiela Letsoalo
Media Relations, South Africa
Mobile: +27 78 802 6310
Email: shamiela.letsoalo@prosus.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Clarity AI Partners with RiskThinking.ai to Deliver Market-Leading Physical Risk and Asset-Level Intelligence25.3.2026 11:00:00 EET | Press release
Clarity AI, the leading global technology platform for extra-financial intelligence, today announced a strategic partnership with RiskThinking.ai, the trusted provider of asset-level physical climate risk modelling. This collaboration integrates RiskThinking.ai’s granular asset-level data and advanced physical risk modeling into Clarity AI’s award-winning platform, insights, and native AI capabilities, providing financial institutions and corporations with unprecedented "bottom-up" transparency into climate vulnerability, hazards, and nature and biodiversity impact. With visibility into over 3 million individual assets across a universe of 15,000 ultimate parent companies, firms can now move seamlessly from broad disclosures to precise, actionable insights while meeting the rising demand for transparency and technical auditability. RiskThinking.ai’s capabilities are powered by its Climate Digital Twin™ platform, which runs full hydrologic model simulations across every climate scenario
Agileo Automation Launches Agil'EDA to Accelerate SEMI EDA Adoption for Semiconductor Equipment OEMs25.3.2026 08:00:00 EET | Press release
Agileo Automation, a leading global provider of control and connectivity solutions for semiconductor manufacturing, today unveils Agil'EDA, a new software implementing Equipment Data Acquisition (EDA/Interface A). This solution enables semiconductor equipment manufacturers to meet the evolving high-performance connectivity requirements of tier-one fabs and advanced packaging facilities. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260323881880/en/ Agileo Automation unveils Agil'EDA, a new software solution implementing Equipment Data Acquisition (EDA), a set of SEMI standards also known as Interface A, to enable semiconductor equipment manufacturers to meet the evolving high-performance connectivity requirements of tier-one fabs and advanced packaging facilities. As semiconductor manufacturing moves towards higher levels of automation and data-driven optimization, fab owners increasingly require EDA alongside traditional S
RSA Announces Expanded Partnership with Microsoft, Enhances Leadership in Passwordless Identity Security24.3.2026 18:00:00 EET | Press release
RSA today announced expanded support for the new Microsoft 365 E7: The Frontier Suite solution at RSAC Conference 2026. This new support joins additional passwordless capabilities that provide organizations with enhanced security, seamless experience, and resilient operations as they embrace the future of AI-driven productivity. By integrating RSA® ID Plus for Microsoft with Microsoft 365 E7, enterprises can ensure trusted authentication for both human users and AI agents, while safeguarding sensitive data and privileged operations across hybrid, cloud, and on-premises environments. This deployment follows RSA joining the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), launching RSA Advisor for Admin Threats in Microsoft Security Copilot, and deploying RSA ID Plus Admin Logs Connector, further strengthening the ongoing collaboration between RSA and Microsoft. “The rise of AI agents in the enterprise means organizations need to rethink how they secure every identity—human and machine
Lexon × Jeff Koons Unveil the Chromatic Collection: a Colorful New Chapter for the Acclaimed Balloon Dog Lamp and Balloon Dog Speaker24.3.2026 16:10:00 EET | Press release
Following the success of its 2025 inaugural edition, the Lexon × Jeff Koons collaboration enters a bold new era with the launch of the Chromatic Collection—a colorful evolution of its Balloon Dog Lamp and Balloon Dog Speaker. Pre-orders will be available starting March 24, 2026, exclusively on lexon-design.com as part of a time-limited edition. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260324498068/en/ Lexon x Jeff Koons — new Chromatic Collection Retaining the signature translucent body that reveals the technology within, the Chromatic Collection introduces eight models: Balloon Dog Lamps in Gold, Blue, Red, and Platinum, and Balloon Dog Speakers in Gold, Blue, Red, and White, reinforcing the collectible nature of the series, offering new audiences an entry point while giving existing collectors the opportunity to enrich their collection. This new approach brings greater variety and a more personal dimension to the col
iQmetrix Joins TM Forum as ODA Component Directory Partner, Giving Telecom Operators a Faster, Cleaner Path to Modern Commerce24.3.2026 16:00:00 EET | Press release
iQmetrix, the global provider of Interconnected Commerce solutions purpose-built for telecom retail, today announced it has joined TM Forum and earned recognition as an Open Digital Architecture (ODA) Component Directory Partner. The achievement validates that iQmetrix aligns with the ODA vision and that its platform is built around standardized open APIs, modular cloud-native components, and interoperable architecture aligned with how leading operators are building their digital futures. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260324562860/en/ iQmetrix partners with TM Forum’s ODA Component Directory to accelerate open, future‑ready telecom transformation The recognition comes as communications service providers (CSPs) accelerate AI adoption and move away from integration-heavy legacy environments. For operators under pressure to reduce technical debt, lower cost, and move faster, architecture standards are no longer
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom
