Naspers may have its credit rating raised from Baa3 with stable outlook by Moody’s following its sale of 2% of Tencent, the ratings agency indicated in an analyst’s report e-mailed on Monday. "We estimate that there will be a negligible effect on Naspers from the reduced dividend inflow from Tencent as a result of the smaller stake," Moody’s senior analyst Dion Bate wrote in the note. Naspers raised $9.8bn on Friday by cutting its stake in the Hong Kong-listed internet company to 31.2% from 33.2%. Moody’s said it expected the capital gains tax liability on the sale to be minimal, and that the sale should boost Naspers’s cash balance to $12.8bn from $3bn. Naspers has gross debt of about $4.7bn, which Moody’s said it was unlikely to repay given the competitive interest rates it has managed to borrow at. "Instead, we expect Naspers to redeploy the capital into new growth opportunities," Moody’s said. "The remaining 31.2% stake in Tencent still has significant value of $155bn at current...
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