Today, Naspers’ newly-listed Dutch unit, Prosus made a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) main board using the symbol (JSE: PRX) under the technology Internet sector.
This is a secondary listing for Prosus, as primary listing and trading for the company’s ordinary shares is on Euronext Amsterdam.
The company made a strong start to its first trading day in Amsterdam and Johannesburg this morning.
It opened at EUR76, 30% higher than the reference price issued by Naspers on Tuesday night. According to Bloomberg data, it was last trading at EUR74.05.
On the JSE, Prosus opened trading at R1 238 this morning.
Naspers initially scheduled Prosus listing for July 17 this year but the firm delayed it to 11 September.
Prosus comprises the international Internet assets of Naspers, Africa’s most valuable company.
According to Naspers, Prosus’ operations and investments are valued in excess of $100 billion with core sectors including online classifieds, food delivery, payments and fintech and food delivery.
It notes that Prosus also has meaningful investments in leading Internet companies – Tencent, Mail.ru and Ctrip.
The listing of Prosus is a further step to unlock shareholder value by Naspers following the unbundling of the MultiChoice Group in March 2019, which unlocked approximately $3.5 billion for Naspers shareholders, the company says.
“We are pleased to be a part of this exciting moment in the development of Prosus. The secondary listing on the JSE will give local investors an opportunity to participate in Naspers’ international company. Today we are proud to be able to connect investors with technology companies, like Prosus, who seek to raise capital,” says Thato Matsafu, head of primary markets at the JSE.
Naspers will be the majority shareholder of Prosus, holding at least a 73% stake in the group alongside its South African businesses, Takealot and Media24.
Naspers says it remains a committed investor in both SA’s technology sector and society at large through its existing operations and its Naspers Foundry and Naspers Labs initiatives.
Bob van Dijk, group CEO Prosus and Naspers says: “The listing of Prosus is an exciting step forwards for the group, giving global technology investors direct access to our unique and attractive portfolio of international consumer Internet businesses.
“We operate and invest globally in markets with long-term growth potential, and our companies and associates help improve the daily lives of around a fifth of the world’s population.”
Van Dijk adds: “The listing on Euronext Amsterdam provides a strong foundation for our future growth ambitions. We will continue to seek opportunities to partner with exceptional entrepreneurs who are using technology to address big societal needs, and to create value for our shareholders.”
The secondary, inward listing of Prosus on the JSE now provides South African investors with direct access to Naspers’ international internet assets, the company says.
It adds that investors can also access Naspers’ local assets and its controlling interest in Prosus through Naspers’ primary listing on the JSE. In both cases, South African investors buying these shares on the JSE will do so without using their foreign allowances for exchange control purposes, the company explains.
This is the third JSE listing in 2019 after the listing of MultiChoice Group and Tsogo Sun Hotels earlier in the year.
The JSE currently has 357 companies listed on the exchange with an overall market capitalisation is R16 trillion.
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