Napsers‘ newly formed entity, Prosus, was listed on the Euronext stock exchange on Wednesday, Sept. 11, with shares surging more than 30 percent in early trading of its market debut in Amsterdam.
Prosus is now the largest consumer internet group listed in Europe, thanks to an opening valuation of around $105 billion, according to CNN.
The new company increased in value by around 32 percent in the first hours of trading and stayed around that level for a valuation of around $138 billion.
Prosus now ranks among the top 10 consumer internet companies globally and is Europe’s largest by asset value.
U.S. companies including Facebook and Amazon are far larger. On Sept. 11, 2019, Facebook had a market cap of around $532.8 billion and Amazon around $896.32 billion.
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In addition to its primary listing in Amsterdam, Prosus had a secondary listing in Johannesburg.
Naspers is the South African consumer tech giant and investor responsible for one of the best corporate investments in history when it invested $32 million in Chinese investment holding company Tencent in 2001.
That 31 percent stake is now worth $130 billion and is the jewel in the crown of Naspers’ new entity, Prosus.
The Prosus listing means that funds restricted to investing in European-listed companies can get exposure to China’s internet sector — some for the first time.
Naspers, Africa’s largest company by market capitalization, has listed Prosus in Europe as a new entity holding the South African company’s global online assets outside of South Africa.
Naspers has retained 73 percent of Prosus, with the remaining shares available to investors with the main listing on the Euronext and a secondary listing in Johannesburg.
Other global assets under the Prosus umbrella include companies in online classifieds, food delivery, payments and fintech, e-retail, travel, education, and social and internet platforms.
As expected after the separate listing of Prosus, Naspers’ share price in Johannesburg fell by more than 30 percent on Johannesburg’s stock exchange. It recovered some ground in afternoon trading.
