Naspers, which has been criticised in the past for its apparent disregard of shareholders’ concerns, has become far more willing to talk about issues such as remuneration, investors say. About two-thirds of ordinary shareholders voted against the remuneration policy of Africa’s biggest company in 2017. However, the policy was approved thanks to Naspers’s dual-class share structure, which gives certain investors far higher voting rights than others. Since that meeting, Naspers has been actively engaging shareholders on the matter — partly on the premise that if it improves disclosure, investors will value the company closer to its stake in China’s Tencent. There had been a "complete 180, from ‘Does this matter’ to ‘Okay, it really does matter – what do you want to see, what’s lacking, how can we best get that into our remuneration report, and what level of granularity do you need?’" said Robert Lewenson, head of environment, social and governance engagement at Old Mutual Investment, ...
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