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15 Global Businesses Owned By Africa’s Most Valuable Company

15 Global Businesses Owned By Africa’s Most Valuable Company

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Naspers is Africa’s most valuable company, and it has built its $72 billion valuation through investments in international companies and the creation of other businesses that have gone global.

The South African media company which is listed on the Johannesburg and London Stock Exchanges has stakes in about 45 technology and media companies around the world.

Naspers, which is involved in e-commerce, television, print media, travel, communications and other sectors in 130 countries, continues to look for opportunities to invest in and grow companies throughout the globe, as it has done with countless others.

Here are 15 global businesses owned by Africa’s most valuable company, Naspers.

Sources: MoneyWeb, Reuters, Bloomberg, BusinessTech,

DSTV
DSTV remote for subscribers throughout Africa. Photo: techzim.co.zw

Multichoice

Pay-TV company, Multichoice, has around 10 million subscribers spread across 49 African countries. Through DSTV and SuperSport the business broadcasts international sport, news, movies and prime local and international television programming to the African continent.

Flipkart e-commerce store. Photo: Coupondesh.com
Flipkart e-commerce store. Photo: Coupondesh.com

Flipkart

Based in India but registered in Singapore, Flipkart is an e-commerce marketplace in which Naspers owns shares. In May 2016, Morgan Stanley valued India’s biggest online shopping hub at $9.39 billion, and continues to grow successfully in the subcontinent.

Naspers owns stake in Chinese company Tencent. Photo: SegmentNext
Naspers owns stake in Chinese company Tencent. Photo: SegmentNext

Tencent

Tencent is a Chinese media, entertainment and internet developer that operates online services in China. Naspers owns 34% of the company, which they bought for $34 million 15 years ago. That same stake is now worth around $88 billion, providing Naspers with their biggest revenue earner.

Ibibo is another company in which Naspers is invested. Photo: Ibibo
Ibibo is another company in which Naspers is invested. Photo: Ibibo

Ibibo

Ibibo is a travel business that the company owns in India. Naspers is currently working to merge with competitor MakeMyTrip to boost their presence in the country, allowing for more business to flow through the merged companies.

Netflix vs ShowMax
Showmax is Africa’s Netflix – Photo: mokoloprojects.org

Showmax

Showmax is South Africa’s answer to Netflix, the global subscription based video streaming service. The service is available in 36 African countries after launching in South Africa last year, while they offer content from Afrikaans television station kykNET in 28 international countries including Australia, United Kingdom and the United States.

Thinkstock
Takealot is incredibly popular in the South African e-commerce scene. Photo: Thinkstock

Takealot.com

South Africa’s largest and most popular e-commerce retailer, the customer-focussed online site joined the Naspers group in 2015. At the beginning of 2015 Takealot merged with local competitor Kalahari.com to form a bigger online retailer.

Thinkstock
Naspers owns a minority stake in Russian Internet company Mail.ru .Photo: Thinkstock

Mail.ru

Naspers owns a minority investment in Russian integrated social-network platform Mail.ru, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. As of 2013 websites owned by Mail.ru collectively had the largest audience in Russia and captured the most screen time, according to comScore.

OLX operates in numerous countries around the globe. Photo: Gadgets360.com
OLX operates in numerous countries around the globe. Photo: Gadgets360.com

OLX

Popular classified-ad business OLX operates in 40 countries around the world, allowing Naspers to compete successfully with rivals in the market which include the likes of Gumtree.

Commuters stop to buy newspapers at Cape Town train station. Photo: news.yahoo.com
Commuters stop to buy newspapers at Cape Town train station. Photo: news.yahoo.com

Media24

Media24 is Africa’s leading media group, with a significant digital and traditional publishing presence. Media24 publishes seven of the top 10 magazines, and six of the top 10 newspapers in South Africa. Afrikaans magazine Huisgenoot is the most popular magazine, while Daily Sun is the best-selling daily newspaper in the country.

Lekan Olakanmi, VP of operations at Konga Warehouse, Lagos, 2015. Photo: techpoint.ng
Lekan Olakanmi, VP of operations at Konga Warehouse, Lagos, 2015. Photo: techpoint.ng

Konga.com

The e-commerce site was the first of its kind in Nigeria, launching in 2012 and raising funding through investments from Naspers and Investment AB Kinnevik. The brand continues to grow in popularity while innovating the e-commerce landscape in Nigeria.

scoop.it
MWEB is an Internet service provider. Photo: scoop.it

MWEB

MWEB is South Africa’s second largest Internet Service Provider. The company, which is headquartered in Cape Town, offers a range of internet access services to residential and business clients.

Souq.com is considered the 'Amazon' of the Middle East. Photo: Arabian Gazette
Souq.com is considered the ‘Amazon’ of the Middle East. Photo: Arabian Gazette

Souq.com

Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com continues the trend of Naspers investments in e-commerce properties throughout the planet. The business is known as the Amazon.com of the Middle East, and after undertaking plans to sell 30% of the company, it is expected to be worth around $1.2 billion.

ThinkStockPhotos
People can take a course online via Udemy. Photo: ThinkStockPhotos

Udemy

American online-learning provider Udemy is another of the businesses in which Naspers owns a stake. The brand claims to be the world’s largest online learning marketplace, offering a platform for students and teachers to take and give various courses online.

Allegro, Polish company. Photo: Airshipworld blog
Allegro, Polish company. Photo: Airshipworld blog

Allegro

Polish online auction site Allegro is another of the offshore businesses that Naspers owns. The company is in the midst of completing a sale for the digital property, with $3.25 billion reported to be the amount that the company will receive for Allegro.

Naspers acquired 91% stake in Buscape. Photo: Buscape
Naspers acquired 91% stake in Buscape. Photo: Buscape

Buscapé

Buscapé is a comparison shopping service operating in Latin America and founded in Brazil. It is the 37th most popular website in Brazil, and in September 2009, Naspers acquired a 91% stake in the company.