Nasper’s minuscule investment to pick up majority stake in Chinese tech startup Tencent in 2001 proved to be a watershed moment for the company. That watershed moment was fructified last year when Naspers sold merely 2% stake in Tencent to raise $10 Bn. At the time of stake sale Tencent was one of the most highly valued tech companies with a valuation of around $175 bn. Tencent certainly proved to be a goldmine company for the African media conglomerate.
The media conglomerate will most certainly look for another Tencent like investment as it plans for fresh investment push in India. According to reports, Naspers is planning for $1 bn investment push in the country. As part of the investment plan, the media conglomerate this time is re-focusing on India’s rapidly growing Fintech sector.
The African media giant is planning to inject nearly $200 Mn in Fintech major Capital Float and security payment firm Wimbo, according to people familiar with the matter. Sources also claim that Naspers may use part of its $1 bn corpus to consolidate its presence in the foodtech sector. It already owns a majority stake in Swiggy, which is already a market leader In India’s foodtech sector.
Naspers has already tasted sweet success in India after it sold its 11% stake in Flipkart to Walmart in 2016. This stake sale helped the African media giant to secure a cool $1.6bn profit on a cumulative investment of $616 Mn – an almost 29% return on investment.
Naspers is also currently riding high on PayU India’s good performance. PayU India accounts for more than 50% of the overall business of Netherlands-based PayU – the payment arm of the company. Payu India was recently in news for reports that it is planning to acquire Wimbo for $50-60 Mn.
Naspers’ other fintech portfolio companies PaySense and ZestMoney are also doing well.