Koos Bekker’s Christmas bonus this year came in the form of a cool R2.5bn as the group chair cashed in on a huge appreciation in the company’s equity through 2025.
This week, the Naspers stable, which includes international unit Prosus, disclosed that the man who helped grow the Cape Town based media company into one of the world’s largest internet investors had sold a parcel of shares through a family trust.
The trust sold 792,800 shares in the Takealot and Media24 parent company between December 17 and 19, grossing R860.53m. Over the same period, the trust also sold 1,556,807 shares in Prosus worth R1.6bn. Combined, the sales generated about R2.46bn.
The proceeds are set to fund the “building operations at hospitality venues located in Italy, South Africa and the UK in which the family trust has an interest”.
A year ago, the family trust sold €156mn worth of Prosus shares (about R3bn at the time).
The family trust continues to retain 90% of its holding in Naspers and Prosus shares that it had prior to the disposals.
Naspers’ market cap has appreciated 36% to R879bn since the start of 2025, while Prosus is up 41% to €124.8bn (about R2.447-trillion). Combined, the Naspers stable is worth R3.326-trillion.
The increases are in line with Tencent, which has risen 45% over the same period. Naspers’ one-quarter stake of the Chinese internet giant is the biggest driver of its share price movements.
e-Commerce boost
Naspers/Prosus stock has also benefited from improved sentiment as the group continued to generate profits in its e-commerce portfolio.
Over the years, management has been trying to unlock value from its vast portfolio of businesses in areas such as food delivery, classifieds, fintech and education, which are not fully reflected in the Prosus share price.
The value of units such as PayU, Brazil’s iFood, Germany’s Delivery Hero and India’s Swiggy are dwarfed by the group’s stake in Tencent, the China-based technology and entertainment conglomerate, which is valued at about $168bn (R2.8-trillion).
The group recently valued those business at between $31bn and $46bn. Having previously valued these units at about $30bn, this would imply that the portfolio’s value has grown by as much as 50% in a little more than two years.
CEO Fabricio Bloisi has reorientated the group around three main geographies or ecosystems: Europe, Latin America and India. The strategy appears to be bearing fruit: Naspers reported a strong set of interim results driven by e-commerce growth and is on track to deliver its guidance of more than $1.1bn in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) for the full year.
Consolidated revenue for the six months ended September was up 20% to $4.1bn, driven by strong growth from iFood in Latin America, OLX in Europe, and PayU in India.
E-commerce adjusted ebitda grew 71% to $557m.
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