Naspers is likely to feel intense pressure from investors to deploy about R151bn it has raised by trimming its stake in China’s Tencent and selling Indian e-commerce business Flipkart, analysts say. Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk told Business Day on Wednesday the group had decided to sell its Flipkart shares to Walmart, rather than just a portion, as it would have been muscled out of the board by the US retail giant. Walmart acquired 77% of Flipkart for $16bn by buying out Naspers and other shareholders. Naspers sold its entire 11.2% stake for $2.2bn. The deal came soon after Naspers decided to sell a portion of its shares in Tencent, raising HK$77bn (R124bn). Naspers has raised about R151bn in the past two months. The company has said it will use the proceeds to put more money into its existing e-commerce businesses, including in classifieds and online food delivery, and to fund new deals. Van Dijk said Naspers had exited Flipkart mainly because it would lose its influence over the comp...
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