One of the largest Chinese companies, Tencent, announced that Prosus, a tech investor, sold 2% of its stake in the company.
According to the filing, Prosus sold 191.89 million shares for $14.67 billion, reducing its stake to 28.9%. The transaction became the world’s largest-ever block trade. Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs were global coordinators for sale. Data from Refinitiv showed that the block trade, or the private, single trade of a significant number of securities, topped a record set in 2018 by Naspers, which also sold 2% of Tencent for $9.8 billion.
Prosus CEO Bob van Dijk stated: “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 company is known for investing in online food delivery platforms, classified marketplaces, and digital payments businesses.
During the Hong Kong trading hours, Tencent stock closed 1.71% lower.
Sources: finance.yahoo.com, reuters.com