SA’s — and Africa’s — largest company just chalked up another major investment coup. Naspers netted a cool $1.6bn profit from the sale of its 11% stake in Indian e-commerce company Flipkart, a deal almost as lucrative as its sale of Polish online auction site Allegro in 2016. The move helps line the pockets of the media and technology company, which is scouring the globe for investments to convince shareholders it’s on the right track. With its roots in newspapers, Naspers hit the jackpot 17 years ago with a speculative punt on then-obscure Chinese company Tencent Holdings. The initial $32m outlay is now worth almost $150bn — and that’s after Naspers sold off a chunk of the internet giant for almost $10bn six weeks ago. The problem is that investors value the whole of Naspers at less than its Tencent stake, suggesting they see every other part of the business as worth less than nothing. And that’s where the likes of Allegro and Flipkart come in. CEO Bob van Dijk has vowed to close t...
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