Biznews Reporter
The share price of South African media group Naspers, which hit a new high yesterday, is sure to come under pressure after overnight news of a 5% drop in the price of its major investment, Hong Kong-based Internet company Tencent. The fall in Tencent is its biggest single session loss in nearly a year. Naspers owns 35% of Tencent, China’s biggest social networking and online entertainment firm.
Shareholders took fright at news that Tencent CEO Pony Ma had sold 20m Tencent shares at an average price of HK$161 a share, banking $322m (US$41m). The news dropped the share price from Monday’s close of HK$171 to HK$163. Since investing in Tencent more than a decade ago, Naspers has not sold a single share.
Tencent moved quickly to reassure shareholders that the sale of shares was not a vote of no confidence. It said the decision was taken “from a personal wealth management perspective and is not related to company fundamentals.”