Naspers Ltd., Africa’s largest company by market value, is considering a capital raising of as much as $2.5 billion to fund acquisitions and pay down debt related to the increase of its stake in Avito, Russia’s largest classifieds site.
The fundraising will “enhance financial flexibility over the next few years to invest in attractive growth opportunities,” the Cape Town-based company said in a statement on Friday. Naspers appointed Citigroup and Morgan Stanley to advise on the transaction, the media group said.
Naspers, the owner of Africa’s biggest pay-TV service, has expanded through acquisitions in emerging market start-ups around the world. The company owns a 34 percent shareholding in Tencent Holdings Ltd. of Hong Kong, which at about $63 billion accounts for almost all of the South African company’s market capitalization, and has said it’s looking at more opportunities in the Internet advertising and e-commerce markets. The company said last month it would increase its stake in Avito to 68 percent.
The shares fell 3.7 percent to 2,143.15 rand at the market close in Johannesburg. That pared the year’s gain to 41 percent, valuing the company at 901 billion rand ($63 billion).