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{{Short description|Multinational holding and investment company}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Use South African English|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox company
{{Infobox company
| name = Naspers Limited
| name = Naspers Limited
| logo = Naspers.svg
| logo = Naspers.svg
| image = Naspers Media24 building.jpg
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| image_size = 250px
| traded_as = {{JSE|NPN}}<br>{{LSE|NPSN}}
| image_caption = Naspers headquarters in [[Foreshore, Cape Town]]
| genre = [[Internet]]
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| fate =
| traded_as = {{JSE|NPN}}<br/>{{LSE|NPSN}}
| predecessor =
| successor =
| fate =
| predecessor =
| foundation = {{start date and age|df=yes|1915|5|12}}
| founder =
| successor =
| foundation = {{start date and age|df=yes|1915|5|12}}
| defunct =
| founder = W.A. Hofmeyr
| location_city = [[Cape Town]]
| defunct =
| location_city = [[Cape Town]]
| location_country = South Africa
| location_country = South Africa
| location =
| location =
| locations =
| locations =
| area_served = Global
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = [[Koos Bekker]] (Chair)<br>[[Bob van Dijk]] (CEO)
| key_people = [[Koos Bekker]] (Chair)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.naspers.com/about|title = About &#124; Naspers}}</ref><br/>Fabricio Bloisi(CEO)<br/> [[Phuti Mahanyele|Phuti Mahanyele-Dabengwa]] (CEO, South Africa)
| industry = [[E-commerce]], [[digital media]]
| industry = [[Internet]], [[E-commerce]], fintech, food delivery
| products =
| products =
| services =
| services =
| revenue = {{profit}} US$22.1 billion <small>(''FY 2020'')</small><ref>{{Cite web |date=29 June 2020 |title=Naspers Delivers Solid Results for the Twelve Months Ended 31 March 2020 |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/naspers-delivers-solid-results-twelve-155000649.html |access-date=21 September 2020 |publisher=[[Yahoo!]] |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613155346/https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/naspers-delivers-solid-results-twelve-155000649.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="AR2020">{{Cite web |title=Naspers Financial Statements 2020 |url=https://www.naspers.com/getattachment/fd388c5e-aee9-4ede-9b91-edd53dbf1d38/5-Naspers-annual-financial-statements-2020.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US |access-date=21 September 2020 |publisher=Naspers |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613154813/https://www.naspers.com/getattachment/fd388c5e-aee9-4ede-9b91-edd53dbf1d38/5-Naspers-annual-financial-statements-2020.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| revenue ={{profit}} [[United States Dollar|US]]19 billion <small>(''FY 2019'')</small><ref name="BT_a"/>
| operating_income = {{profit}} [[South African Rand|R]]1.6 billion <small>(''FY 2015'')</small><ref name="naspers-reports.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.naspers-reports.com/2015/index.php|title=Home - - Naspers Integrated Annual Report 2015|website=www.naspers-reports.com}}</ref>
| operating_income = {{profit}} US$3.7 billion <small>(''FY 2020'')</small><ref>{{Cite web |title=Naspers delivers solid results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2020 |url=https://www.naspers.com/news/naspers-delivers-solid-results-for-the-twelve-mont |access-date=16 October 2020 |publisher=Naspers |archive-date=6 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306143707/https://www.naspers.com/news/naspers-delivers-solid-results-for-the-twelve-mont |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| net_income =
| aum =
| assets = {{increase}} US$36.3 billion <small>(''FY 2020'')</small><ref name=AR2020/>
| aum =
| equity = {{increase}} US$29.93 billion <small>(''FY 2020'')</small><ref name=AR2020/>
| assets =
| owner = {{ubl
| equity =
|[[Prosus]] (49%)
| owner =
|[[Public Investment Corporation]] (14%)
| num_employees =
| parent =
|[[Koos Bekker]]
| divisions =
| subsid = [[Prosus]]
| homepage = {{URL|naspers.com}}
| footnotes =
}}
}}
| num_employees =
| parent =
| divisions =
| subsid = [[Prosus]] (56.92%)<br/>[[Media24]]<br/>[[Takealot.com]]<br/>Naspers Foundry<br/>
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.naspers.com/}}
| footnotes =
}}

'''Naspers Limited''' (until 1998 Die Nasionale Pers) is a South African [[Multinational corporation|multinational]] [[Online service provider|internet]], [[Technology company|technology]] and multimedia holding company [[Headquarters|headquartered]] in [[Cape Town]], with interests in online retail, publishing and [[venture capital]] investment. Naspers' principal shareholder is its [[Euronext Amsterdam|Dutch listed]] investment subsidiary [[Prosus]], which owns approximately 49% of its parent as part of a [[cross ownership]] structure.<ref name="news24">{{Cite news |last=Omarjee |first= Lameez |title= Naspers-Prosus share swap done and dusted |work=News24 |url=https://www.news24.com/fin24/companies/naspers-prosus-share-swap-done-and-dusted-20210816 |url-status=live |access-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818062435/https://www.news24.com/fin24/companies/naspers-prosus-share-swap-done-and-dusted-20210816 |archive-date=18 August 2021}}</ref>

Founded in 1915 by attorney {{ill|William Angus Hofmeyr|af|Willie Hofmeyr}}, Die Nasionale Pers was the largest publishing company in [[South Africa]] throughout the 20th century with interests across newspapers, magazines and books. In the 1980s, the company began to diversify, launching a subscription television service and investing in markets outside of South Africa for the first time.


In 2001, Naspers made an early investment in Chinese technology firm [[Tencent]] and became increasingly focused on the global consumer internet sector. In 2019, Naspers listed its global internet investment business unit Prosus (including a 31% stake in Tencent) on Euronext Amsterdam.
'''Naspers Limited''' is a [[multinational corporation|multinational]] internet group. [[Headquarters|Headquartered]] in [[South Africa]], its principal operations are in internet communication, entertainment, gaming and e-commerce. It was founded in 1915, in South Africa, by [[Jannie Marais]] of [[Coetsenburg]] and W.A. Hofmeyr, with the support of [[Jan Christiaan Smuts]], [[Louis Botha]], and [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] founding president [[J.B.M. Hertzog]].


Naspers currently owns a 56.92% stake in Prosus<ref name="news24"/> and wholly owns [[Media24]] (Africa's largest publishing company), [[Takealot.com]] (South Africa's largest online retailer) and Naspers Foundry, a South African focused venture capital fund.
In 2001, Naspers made an early and successful investment of US$32 million in [[Tencent]]. As of 2018, Naspers had approximately a 31% stake in Tencent, and is its largest shareholder.<ref name="ten">{{cite news |title=TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD (0700) |url=https://www.marketscreener.com/TENCENT-HOLDINGS-LTD-3045861/company/ |date=August 31, 2018}}</ref> Its investment in Tencent also appears to be the main driver of the value of its own stock, and has since overshadowed the operational aspects of the Naspers business. It has also made less notable investments in other technology companies. In December 2018, Naspers invested $1 billion in India's foodtech giant [[Swiggy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://inc42.com/buzz/foodtech-unicorn-swiggy-bags-1-bn-in-funding-round-led-by-naspers/|title=Foodtech Unicorn Swiggy Bags $1 Bn In Funding Round Led By Naspers|last=Ganguly|first=Shreya|date=20 December 2018|website=Inc42 media}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
===Founding and Afrikaner nationalism===
===''De Nasionale Pers Beperkt''===
In December 1914,<ref name="JK">{{citation |last=Klingenberg |first=Jana |title=De Burger-Leeskring: a Brief History of South Africa's First Commercial Book Club and its Effect on Afrikaans Literature |journal=[[Quaerendo]] |volume=49 |date=2019 |doi=10.1163/15700690-12341440|hdl=2263/72328 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>{{rp|164}} twelve years after the end of the [[Second Boer War]] which had devastated most of South Africa and left most Afrikaners impoverished and subject to the [[British Empire]], and during the pro-[[German Empire|German]] [[Maritz rebellion]], a group of sixteen prominent [[Cape Province|Cape]] [[Afrikaners]] decided at a meeting at District Bank manager Hendrik Bergh's house in [[Stellenbosch]] to form a publishing company that would support [[Afrikaner nationalism]] in the [[Union of South Africa]].<ref name="Pretorius">{{Cite book |last=Pretorius, Fransjohan |author-link=Fransjohan Pretorius |title=A History of South Africa: From the Distant Past to the Present Day |publisher=Protea Book House |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-86919-908-1 |location=Hatsfield, Pretoria}}</ref><ref name="fundinguniverse">{{Cite web |title=Naspers Ltd. History |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/naspers-ltd-history/ |access-date=14 September 2020 |website=Funding Universe}}</ref><ref name="HG">{{citation |last=Giliomee |first=Hermann |author-link=Hermann Giliomee |title=Western Cape farmers and the beginnings of Afrikaner nationalism, 1870–1915 |journal=[[Journal of Southern African Studies]] |volume=14 |issue=1 |date=1987 |p=60 |doi=10.1080/03057078708708159}}</ref> This meeting led to Willie A. Hofmeyr, a well-known Cape lawyer and [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] organizer, founding '''Die Nasionale Pers Beperkt''' (National Press Ltd) in 1915 as a publisher of newspapers and magazines.<ref name="NaspersHistory">{{Cite web |title=Naspers website: Our history |url=http://www.naspers.com/our-history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320141659/http://www.naspers.com/our-history.html |archive-date=20 March 2016 |access-date=15 March 2015 |website=Company history |publisher=Naspers}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 November 2011 |title=Apartheid Inc, the story of Naspers, Media24 and Channel Life |url=http://medialternatives.com/2011/11/15/media-inc-the-story-of-naspers-media24-and-channel-life/ |access-date=15 March 2015 |publisher=Media Alternatives}}</ref> The firm's name was commonly shortened to '''Naspers''' (''Die '''Nas'''ionale '''Pers''' Beperk''), the contraction eventually becoming used even by the company itself.
[[Image:Naspers Building, Cape Town.jpg|thumb|250px|Naspers building in the [[Cape Town]] central business district]]
Naspers was founded, in 1915, under the name ''De Nasionale Pers Beperkt'' (National Press Ltd) as a publisher and printer of newspapers and magazines.<ref name="NaspersHistory">{{cite web | url=http://www.naspers.com/our-history.html | title=Naspers website: Our history | publisher=Naspers | work=Company history | accessdate=15 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://medialternatives.com/2011/11/15/media-inc-the-story-of-naspers-media24-and-channel-life/ | title=Apartheid Inc, the story of Naspers, Media24 and Channel Life | publisher=Media Alternatives | date=15 November 2011 | accessdate=15 March 2015}}</ref> A group of prominent Cape Afrikaners decided in December 1914 at a meeting in Stellenbosch to form a publishing company that would support Afrikaner nationalism.<ref name="Pretorius">{{cite book | title=A History of South Africa: From the Distant Past to the Present Day | publisher=Protea Book House | author=Pretorius, Fransjohan | year=2014 | location=Hatsfield, Pretoria | isbn=978-1-86919-908-1}}</ref>{{rp|290}} It was founded by W.&nbsp;A. Hofmeyr, a well-known Cape lawyer and National Party organiser. Jannie Marais, a prominent Stellenbosch farmer purchased a quarter of the 20,000 £1 shares in the new company.<ref name=Pretorius/>{{rp|290}} Naspers first published the Afrikaans language daily ''De Burger'' (later renamed ''[[Die Burger]]'') in June 1915 which was followed by its first magazine ''De Huisgenoot'' (later ''[[Huisgenoot|Die Huisgenoot]]'') in 1916.<ref name="historyMatters">{{cite web | url=http://historymatters.co.za/content/apartheid-inc-%E2%80%93-profile-racist-corporation-june-9-2010 | title=Apartheid Inc. – Profile of a racist corporation, June 9, 2010 | publisher=History Matters | date=22 January 2015 | accessdate=15 March 2015}}</ref>


The launch of Die Nasionale Pers was financed by [[Jannie Marais]], a prominent Stellenbosch farmer who had made a fortune in the [[Kimberley, South Africa|Kimberley]] [[Diamond mining|diamond mines]] and was the largest shareholder of the District Bank.<ref name=Pretorius/><ref name="HG" /> The press was closely associated with the National Party,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lizette |first=Rabe |date=2014-07-17 |title=From 'people's press' to global superstar |url=https://themediaonline.co.za/2014/07/from-peoples-press-to-global-superstar |website=The Media Online |access-date=14 September 2020}}</ref> founded by General [[J. B. M. Hertzog]] in January 1914.<ref>{{citation |last=Mouton |first=F.A. |title=“A Free, United South Africa Under the Union Jack”: F.S. Malan, South Africanism and the British Empire, 1895–1924 |journal=Historia |volume=51 |issue=1 |year=2006 |p=40 |issn=0018-229X |url=https://upjournals.up.ac.za/index.php/historia/article/download/1403/1296}}</ref> It began publishing the Afrikaans-language daily ''[[Die Burger]]'' (initially ''De Burger'' in Dutch) in June 1915, followed by its first magazine, ''[[Huisgenoot|Die Huisgenoot]]'' (initially ''De Huisgenoot''), in 1916.<ref name="historyMatters">{{Cite web |date=22 January 2015 |title=Apartheid Inc. – Profile of a racist corporation, June 9, 2010 |url=http://historymatters.co.za/content/apartheid-inc-%E2%80%93-profile-racist-corporation-june-9-2010 |access-date=15 March 2015 |publisher=History Matters}}</ref>
In 1918 the company added book publishing to its portfolio, making it one of Africa's most significant media hubs at the time. In 1985 the company launched the first [[Pay television|pay-TV]] system in the region, [[M-Net]], which marked the company's development from a publisher into a [[media company]].<ref name="historyMatters" /> Documents collected by non-profit [https://www.opensecrets.org.za/ Open Secrets] revealed how Naspers funded the [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] during apartheid and that the National Party also held 74,000 shares in Naspers in 1984.


===Domestic expansion (1917–1986)===
In a letter written to FW de Klerk on 17 August 1989, then Naspers Managing Director Ton Vosloo reaffirmed the company's support of the NP. Vosloo reminded De Klerk of a donation of R150,000 (approximately R1-million today) made to the NP before the 1987 elections. He also pledged a further R220,000 in support of the NP ahead of South Africa's last race-based general elections in September 1989. Vosloo ended his letter, promising funding to the NP in Transvaal by adding that “our newspaper Beeld in the Transvaal is your ally and we trust that this formidable combination will wipe out the competition”<ref>{{cite web |title=Declassified: Apartheid profits – the tap root of the National Party |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-08-10-declassified-apartheid-profits-the-tap-root-of-the-national-party/ |website=Daily Maverick}}</ref>
In 1917, Die Nasionale Pers bought the weekly [[Bloemfontein]]-based Afrikaan newspaper ''Het Volksblad'' (now ''[[Volksblad]]''), the first expansion beyond the Cape Province for the company.<ref name="OMera">{{Cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Rob |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0862322561_2/ |title=The Struggle for South Africa. |last2=O'Meara |first2=Dan |last3=Dlamini |first3=Sipho |publisher=Zed Books |year=1984 |isbn=0862322561 |volume=2 |location=London |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|410}} By 1924, the links to the National Party were formalised.<ref name="JK" />{{rp|165}} In 1925, ''Die Volksblad'' started publishing daily. In 1937, it started ''Die Oosterlig'' in the Eastern Cape.<ref name=OMera/>{{rp|410}} Also in 1937, Die Nasionale Pers set up the company Voortrekkerpers in the Transvaal to support the National Party in Transvaal by publishing ''Die Transvaler''.<ref name=OMera/>{{rp|411}} Initially the Cape National Party tried to control the extremism of the National Party in the Transvaal by appointing [[Hendrik Verwoerd]] as the paper's first editor but he would side with Transvaal branch and ''Nationale Pers'' gave up editorial control in 1939.<ref name=OMera/>{{rp|411}} In order to combat the influence of [[Albert Hertzog]] in the Transvaal National Party, Die Nasionale Pers introduced a more enlightened Sunday newspaper in 1965 in the province called the ''Die Beeld'' in competition to the ''Dagbreek''.<ref name=OMera/>{{rp|411}} By 1970, these two papers, the latter owned by ''Perskor'', to merge into a paper called the ''[[Rapport (newspaper)|Rapport]]'' managed by both groups.<ref name=OMera/>{{rp|411}} In 1965, Die Nasionale Pers launched their first English-language magazine ''Fairlady''. In 1974, the Afrikaans newspaper [[Beeld]] began publishing daily for the Johannesburg market.<ref name="historyMatters" />


Die Nasionale Pers entered the South African general and educational book publishing markets in 1918, initially publishing exclusively in [[Afrikaans]]. The company expanded to English-language titles in 1919 and [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] in 1922. It spun off its book publishing operations in 1950 into a separate business, [[Nasionale Boekhandel]]. In 1963, Die Nasionale Pers recommenced educational publishing operations through subsidiary Nasou.<ref name="historyMatters" />
In 1997 the [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] requested that Naspers make a submission about the years between 1960 and 1994 (thus broadly between the [[Sharpeville massacre|Sharpeville tragedy]] in March 1960 and the first [[South African general election, 1994|democratic elections]] in April 1994), and specifically the media's role in this period. Naspers refused to comply, which led to 127 Naspers employees each making an individual submission to the TRC apologising for their role in the apartheid years. They said Naspers newspapers had formed an integral part of the power structure which implemented and maintained apartheid through, for instance, supporting the NP in elections and referendums.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rabe |first1=Lizette |title=Chronicle of a coming of age? A media-historiographical revisit: The TRC, Naspers and Afrikaans journalism |url=https://www.litnet.co.za/chronicle-coming-age-media-historiographical-revisit-trc-naspers-afrikaans-journalism/ |website=litnet.co.za}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=NASPERS JOURNALISTS APOLOGISE FOR APARTHEID ROLE |url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media%5C1997%5C9709/s970926g.htm |website=www.justice.gov.za}}</ref>


In 1973, Die Nasionale Pers took back control of Nasionale Boekhandel, before acquiring another publishing house Human & Rousseau in 1977. The press continued to develop its book publishing business during the 1980s, forming the Afrikaans-language book club Leserskring in 1979 and the English-language book club Leisure Hour.<ref name="historyMatters" /> In 1986, Die Nasionale Pers acquired publisher JL van Schaik.
It was only in 2015 that Media24 CEO Esmare Weideman apologised for Naspers's role in supporting apartheid.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Etheridge |first1=Jenna |title=Naspers apologises for its role in apartheid |url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Naspers-apologises-for-its-role-in-apartheid-20150725 |website=news24.com}}</ref>


In 1984, Die Nasionale Pers acquired Drum Publications, publisher of the Sunday newspaper [[City Press (South Africa)|City Press]] and weekly magazines ''[[Drum]]'' and ''True Love & Family'', titles focused on a black readership.<ref name="historyMatters" />
===Public company===
Since 1994, the company has been listed on the [[Johannesburg Stock Exchange]] in South Africa and has designated to be part of the Top 10 index over the past number of years. They also have a Level I American Depository Receipt programme (ADR programme) listing on the [[London Stock Exchange]] (LSE) and trade on an over-the-counter (OTC) basis. International investors account for around 50% of their shareholder base.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}


===Diversification, IPO and international expansion (1986–2003)===
Nasionale Pers officially changed its name to the currently used 'Naspers' in 1998.<ref name="historyMatters" />
In 1986, Die Nasionale Pers formed a partnership with other South African publishing companies and launched [[pay-TV]] service [[M-Net]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gundan |first=Farai |title=South African Billionaire And Media Tycoon, Koos Bekker To Step Down As CEO Of Naspers |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/faraigundan/2014/02/25/south-african-billionaire-and-media-tycoon-koos-bekker-to-step-down-as-ceo-of-naspers/ |access-date=2020-05-31 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> M-Net proved successful and, with sister companies [[MultiChoice]] and [[M-Web]], steadily expanded its operations both in South Africa and internationally throughout the 1990s.


In 1994, Die Nasionale Pers became publicly listed on the [[Johannesburg Stock Exchange]] in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/naspers-ltd-history/|title=History of Naspers Ltd. – FundingUniverse|website=www.fundinguniverse.com}}</ref> The company also obtained a Level I American Depository Receipt listing on the [[London Stock Exchange]].
===Tencent investment===
Naspers purchased 46.5 percent in Chinese internet company [[Tencent]] from early investors including [[PCCW]] and [[IDG Capital]],<ref>https://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1432550/south-african-publishing-group-struck-gold-taking-chance-tencent</ref> then a start-up, in 2001. The investment paid off for Naspers in dramatic fashion, boosting the Naspers stock price over time,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.biznews.com/global-investing/2017/08/28/koos-bekker-naspers-tencent/|title=Koos Bekker to Naspers' shareholders: You’re richer because of Tencent - BizNews.com|date=2017-08-28|work=BizNews.com|access-date=2017-08-29|language=en-US}}</ref> making it the most valuable publicly traded business in Africa by 2017. It sold a part of its stake in March 2018, raising some $10 billion. At that time, its initial investment of $32 million had ballooned to a stake worth over $175 billion.<ref name="march2018">{{cite news |title=South Africa's Naspers cashes in $10bn Tencent stake |url=https://phys.org/news/2018-03-south-africa-naspers-cashes-10bn.html |date=March 23, 2018}}</ref> Notably, the market value of its Tencent holdings was greater than the market capitalization of the firm itself. The move has been referred to as one of the most successful venture capital investments of all time.<ref name="tencent">{{cite news |title=Tencent’s 60,000% Runup Leads to One of the Biggest VC Payoffs Ever |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-22/naspers-sells-10-6-billion-of-tencent-to-fund-investments |work=Bloomberg Businessweek |date=March 22, 2018}}</ref>


In 1998, the company formally changed its name to Naspers Limited.<ref name="historyMatters" /> Naspers became increasingly focused on digital businesses; launching South African web portal Media24 and online retailer Kalahari.com in 1998 and Chinese-focused web portal SportCN in 2000. In May 2001, Naspers purchased 46.5 percent of Chinese internet company [[Tencent]], owner of [[WeChat]], and an array of fintech apps and mobile games, from early investors including [[PCCW]] (the owner of [[Now TV (Hong Kong)|Now TV]]) and [[IDG Capital]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Patrick Boehler |date=2014-02-21 |title=South African media group struck gold by taking a chance on Tencent |work=scmp.com |publisher=South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1432550/south-african-publishing-group-struck-gold-taking-chance-tencent |access-date=2020-10-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-09-11 |title=A European Tech Giant Is Born, Spun Off From a South African Firm |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/business/dealbook/naspers-prosus-tencent-euronext.htm |access-date=2020-10-28}}</ref> The investment has been referred to as one of the most successful venture capital deals of all time.<ref name="tencent">{{Cite news |date=March 22, 2018 |title=Tencent's 60,000% Runup Leads to One of the Biggest VC Payoffs Ever |work=Bloomberg Businessweek |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-22/naspers-sells-10-6-billion-of-tencent-to-fund-investments |access-date=16 September 2020}}</ref> Making Naspers the most valuable publicly traded business in Africa by 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-08-28 |title=Koos Bekker to Naspers' shareholders: You're richer because of Tencent - BizNews.com |language=en-US |work=BizNews.com |url=https://www.biznews.com/global-investing/2017/08/28/koos-bekker-naspers-tencent/ |access-date=2017-08-29 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204012733/https://www.biznews.com/global-investing/2017/08/28/koos-bekker-naspers-tencent |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===Other ventures===
Myriad International Holdings, a subsidiary of Naspers, owns a 28.7% stake in [[Digital Sky Technologies]] (DST), the Russian firm behind investments in Internet companies like Facebook, [[Groupon]], and [[Zynga]]. In March 2014, [[Souq.com]] raised $75 million from Naspers.<ref name=bberg-backed>{{cite news|last1=Nair|first1=Dinesh|title=Tiger-Backed Souq.com Said Worth $1 Billion in Fundraising|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-14/tiger-backed-souq-com-said-valued-at-1-billion-in-fundraising|accessdate=25 October 2015|publisher=Bloomberg|date=14 April 2015}}</ref> Over two rounds in May and September 2017, Naspers invested 1.05 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in Germany's [[Delivery Hero]] AG, and was involved in 14 deals worth $1.94 billion in 2017, according to data compiled by ''[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/money/naspers-lines-up-billions-for-tech-investments/articleshow/61652473.cms|title=Naspers lines up billions for tech investments|last=|first=|date=|work=Economic Times|access-date=|archive-url=|archive-date=}}</ref> MultiChoice shares were sold in 2019.<ref name="BT_a">{{Citation|date=June 21, 2019 |title=Naspers revenue soars on improved e-commerce business |publisher=BusinessTech |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/internet/324923/naspers-revenue-soars-on-improved-e-commerce-business/ |accessdate=September 9, 2019 }}</ref> In January 2019, Naspers acquired Dubizzle, a classifieds website targeting the [[UAE]], for $190 million.


In 2003, Naspers took full ownership of subscription television business M-Net and its sister companies MultiChoice and M-Web, integrating their extensive operations across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.news24.com/fin24/naspers-makes-buy-out-offer-20031217|title = Naspers makes buy out offer}}</ref> Naspers also launched new publishing ventures in Nigeria and Hungary in 2003.<ref name="historyMatters" />
===Prosus listing===
Announced in March 2019, Naspers is listing its international internet assets on [[Euronext Amsterdam]] as [[Prosus]].<ref>{{Citation |last=de Wet |first= Phillip|date=August 26, 2019 |title=Naspers expects to pay R736 million to list Prosus in Amsterdam – here are the advisors and law firms that will benefit most |publisher=[[Business Insider]] South Africa |url=https://www.businessinsider.co.za/naspers-prosus-listing-expenses-to-advisors-and-lawyers-2019-8 |accessdate=September 9, 2019 }}</ref>


===Online ventures (2003–2015)===
==Post Anglo Boer War involvement==
With the success of the investment in Tencent, Naspers became an investor in a number of consumer internet startups. In January 2007 Naspers purchased a 30% share of Russia's largest internet company [[VK (company)]] (formerly Mail.ru Group) for $165 million.<ref>{{Cite news |date=24 January 2007 |title=African Naspers buys 30% stake in one of Russia's biggest internet portals |publisher=C-News |url=http://eng.cnews.ru/news/top/indexEn.shtml?2007/01/24/232569 |url-status=dead |access-date=5 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226044859/http://eng.cnews.ru/news/top/indexEn.shtml?2007%2F01%2F24%2F232569 |archive-date=26 December 2007}}</ref>
The original reason for the founding of Naspers was to empower the impoverished Afrikaner nation after the devastation of the Anglo Boer War.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/naspers-ltd-history/|title=Naspers Ltd. History|last=|first=|date=|website=Funding Universe| archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}</ref> It therefore also supported the Nationalist Party (NP).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://themediaonline.co.za/2014/07/from-peoples-press-to-global-superstar |title=From ‘people’s press’ to global superstar|last=Lizette|first=Rabe|date=2014-07-17|website=The Media Online|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}</ref>


Naspers had a particular focus on India, investing more than $4 billion from 2014 to 2019,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Varsha Meghani |date=25 October 2019 |title=Inside Naspers' big bet on India |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/real-issue/inside-naspers-big-bet-on-india/55893/1 |access-date=18 September 2020 |website=[[Forbes India]]}}</ref> across multiple sectors, including into [[Byju]] and [[ibibo]]. In December 2018, Naspers invested $1 billion into Indian online food ordering and delivery service [[Swiggy]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ganguly |first=Shreya |date=20 December 2018 |title=Foodtech Unicorn Swiggy Bags $1 Bn In Funding Round Led By Naspers |url=https://inc42.com/buzz/foodtech-unicorn-swiggy-bags-1-bn-in-funding-round-led-by-naspers/ |access-date=18 September 2020 |website=Inc42 media}}</ref> the largest single investment made, outside of China, into a food tech company.<ref>Russell, Jon [https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/20/swiggy-raises-1-billion/ Food delivery startup Swiggy raises $1 billion more from Naspers, Tencent and others" Dec. 20, 2018. Techcrunch]</ref>
==Criticism==
On 26 May 2017, Naspers subsidiary DStv admitted to price fixing and contravening the Competition Act. In a deal struck with the competition commission, the entity agreed to pay R22 million in penalty fees as well as R8 million to the Economic Development Fund. The commission found that the practices restricted competition among the competing companies as they did not independently determine a price.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ewn.co.za/2017/05/26/dstv-agrees-to-pay-r22m-in-penalty-fees-after-admits-to-price-fixing|title=DStv agrees to pay R22m penalty for price fixing|last=Lindeque|first=Mia|access-date=2017-08-30}}</ref>


===Consolidation (2015–present)===
==Brands and subsidiaries==
In 2015, Naspers merged its South African–focused Kalahari.com online retail business with market leader [[Takealot.com]], acquiring a 46% stake in the merged company and creating South Africa's largest online retailer.<ref name="techcentral.co.za">{{Cite web|url=https://techcentral.co.za/naspers-bags-all-of-takealot/82010/|title = Naspers bags all of Takealot| date=25 June 2018 }}</ref> By 2018, Naspers owned 96% of Takealot.com.<ref name="techcentral.co.za"/>


In December 2016, Naspers announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell telecommunications company M-Web to [[Internet Solutions]] (a subsidiary of Japanese telecommunications conglomerate [[Nippon Telegraph and Telephone]]), pending approval by the South African competition authorities.<ref>{{Cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2016-12-02 |title=Internet Solutions agrees to buy MWeb Connect |url=http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=158054 |access-date=2016-12-06 |publisher=ITWeb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=MyBroadband |date=2016-12-02 |title=MWEB to be sold to Internet Solutions |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/internet/145495/mweb-to-be-sold-to-internet-solutions/ |access-date=2016-12-06 |publisher=BusinessTech}}</ref> On 9 May 2017, it was announced that the South African competition authorities approved the proposed sale of M-Web, with 31 May 2017 being the effective commencement date.<ref>{{Cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2017-05-09 |title=Commission approves MWeb sale to DiData |url=http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161602 |access-date=2017-05-22 |publisher=ITWeb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2017-05-09 |title=Competition Commission approves Internet Solutions' acquisition of MWEB |url=https://mybroadband.co.za/news/business-telecoms/209876-competition-commission-approves-internet-solutions-acquisition-of-mweb.html |access-date=2017-05-22 |publisher=MyBroadband}}</ref>
Major brands owned by Naspers include:


In March 2018 Naspers sold part of its stake in Tencent, raising some $10 billion to fund other investments. At the time, its initial investment of $32 million in Tencent was valued at over $175 billion.<ref name="march2018">{{Cite news |date=March 23, 2018 |title=South Africa's Naspers cashes in $10bn Tencent stake |url=https://phys.org/news/2018-03-south-africa-naspers-cashes-10bn.html |access-date=16 September 2020}}</ref>
* Consumer internet companies: [[Prosus]] ([[PayU]], [[ibibo]], [[Multiply (website)|Multiply]], [[Buscapé]], [[Movile (company)|Movile]], Property24, [[SimilarWeb]], [[Avito.ru]], etc.)
* Online and print media: [[Media24]] ([[News24]], [[Die Burger]], [[City Press]], [[You (South African magazine)|You]], etc.)
* E-commerce retail: [[OLX]], eMAG, Takealot (merged in the 2010s with Kalahari, a 1998-founded Naspers internet business selling books and electronics)


Naspers' video entertainment business was spun off as [[MultiChoice|MultiChoice Group]], on 27 February 2019, represented as MCG on the [[Johannesburg Stock Exchange]].<ref name="BT_a">{{Citation |title=Naspers revenue soars on improved e-commerce business |date=June 21, 2019 |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/internet/324923/naspers-revenue-soars-on-improved-e-commerce-business/ |publisher=BusinessTech |access-date=September 9, 2019}}</ref> Shares in Multichoice Group were unbundled to Naspers shareholders, with Naspers retaining no stake in the newly listed company.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mybroadband.co.za/news/business/275893-naspers-to-list-multichoice-group-on-the-jse.html|title=Naspers to list MultiChoice Group on the JSE – MyBroadband}}</ref>
Through [[Prosus]], it also has minority investments in listed, social-network platforms [[Tencent]] and [[Mail.Ru]], as well as food-delivery platform [[Delivery Hero]].

Still in 2019, Naspers listed its global internet investment business on [[Euronext Amsterdam]] as [[Prosus]],<ref>{{Citation |last=de Wet |first=Phillip |title=Naspers expects to pay R736 million to list Prosus in Amsterdam – here are the advisors and law firms that will benefit most |date=26 August 2019 |url=https://www.businessinsider.co.za/naspers-prosus-listing-expenses-to-advisors-and-lawyers-2019-8 |publisher=[[Business Insider]] South Africa |access-date=9 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Michael J. de la Merced |date=11 September 2019 |title=A European Tech Giant Is Born, Spun Off From a South African Firm |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/business/dealbook/naspers-prosus-tencent-euronext.html |access-date=16 September 2020}}</ref> which became Europe's largest consumer Internet company on its market debut. Share values gained over 25 percent on the day of its [[IPO]], with Prosus' market capitalisation exceeding 125 billion pounds (US$138 billion). Prosus reported profits of $4.2 billion for its fiscal year ending 31 March 2019.

Naspers Labs, designed in partnership with RLabs and its founder Marlon Parker,<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 July 2019 |title=Naspers appoints CEO for South Africa |work=BusinessTech |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/internet/327057/naspers-appoints-ceo-for-south-africa/ |access-date=7 July 2021}}</ref> launched in 2019 as an economic initiative for unemployed youth in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 July 2019 |title=7 things to know about the new CEO of Naspers SA |work=Fin24 |url=https://www.news24.com/fin24/Companies/ICT/7-things-to-know-about-the-new-ceo-of-naspers-sa-20190703 |access-date=20 September 2020}}</ref>

In May 2021, Naspers announced a share swap deal with its Dutch-listed subsidiary Prosus in an attempt to reduce the discount between the asset value of the companies and their market capitalisation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wexler |first=Alexandra |title=Tencent's Biggest Shareholder Looks to Fix Valuation Snag |work=[[Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/tencents-biggest-shareholder-looks-to-fix-valuation-snag-11620824422 |access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref> The deal, successfully completed in August 2021, reduced Naspers' stake in Prosus to 56.92% and gave Prosus an approximately 49% share in its parent company.<ref name="news24"/>

Following the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], Naspers (through its subsidiary Prosus) wrote off its 27.29% investment, previously valued at US$769 million, in the Russian internet company [[VK (company)|VK]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Shapshak |first=Toby |date=2022-03-16 |title=OPINIONISTA: Naspers does the right thing by axing its Russian platform, but pays a R12bn price |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2022-03-16-naspers-does-the-right-thing-by-axing-its-russian-platform-but-pays-a-r12bn-price/ |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}</ref>

==Controversies==
===Apartheid===
Documents collected by [[OpenSecrets]] revealed how Die Nasionale Pers funded the [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] (NP) during [[apartheid]], and that the NP also held 74,000 shares in Die Nasionale Pers in 1984.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

In a letter written to [[F.W. de Klerk]], on 17 August 1989, the then managing director of Die Nasionale Pers, Ton Vosloo, reaffirmed the company's support of the National Party. Vosloo reminded de Klerk of its donation of R150,000 (approximately R1-million today), made to the NP before the 1987 elections. The company had then also pledged a further R220,000 in support of the NP ahead of South Africa's last race-based general elections, in September 1989. Vosloo ended his letter, promising funding to the NP in Transvaal, by adding that "our newspaper Beeld in the Transvaal is your ally and we trust that this formidable combination will wipe out the competition."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Declassified: Apartheid profits – the tap root of the National Party |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-08-10-declassified-apartheid-profits-the-tap-root-of-the-national-party/ |access-date=15 September 2020 |website=Daily Maverick|date=9 August 2017 }}</ref>

In 1997, the [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] requested that Die Nasionale Pers make a submission about the years between 1960 and 1994 (thus, broadly, between the [[Sharpeville massacre]], in March 1960, and the first [[South African general election, 1994|democratic elections]] of April 1994), specifically, the media's role during this period. Die Nasionale Pers refused to comply, which led to 127 employees each making an individual submission to the TRC, apologising for their role in the apartheid years. They said Die Nasionale Pers newspapers had formed an integral part of the power structure which implemented and maintained apartheid through, for instance, supporting the NP in elections and referendums.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabe |first=Lizette |date=30 November 2017 |title=Chronicle of a coming of age? A media-historiographical revisit: The TRC, Naspers and Afrikaans journalism |url=https://www.litnet.co.za/chronicle-coming-age-media-historiographical-revisit-trc-naspers-afrikaans-journalism/ |access-date=15 September 2020 |website=litnet.co.za}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=NASPERS JOURNALISTS APOLOGISE FOR APARTHEID ROLE |url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media%5C1997%5C9709/s970926g.htm |access-date=15 September 2020 |website=www.justice.gov.za}}</ref>

In 2015, Media24 CEO Esmare Weideman issued a case-limited apology citing a single employee, Conrad Sidego, who had experienced problems with separate facilities. She did not issue an unqualified apology for Naspers's role in supporting apartheid.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Etheridge |first=Jenna |date=25 July 2015 |title=Naspers apologises for its role in apartheid |url=https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Naspers-apologises-for-its-role-in-apartheid-20150725 |access-date=15 September 2020 |website=news24.com}}</ref>

==Assets==
Naspers has two principal business units; Prosus & Naspers South Africa.

===Prosus===
Prosus is the largest consumer internet company in Europe, and among the largest technology investors in the world, operating across a variety of platforms and geographies.<ref>Wexler, A. and Yang, J.[https://www.wsj.com/articles/tencents-biggest-investor-cashes-in-on-pandemic-rally-11617799558 "Tencent's Biggest Investor Cashes In on Pandemic Rally" April 8, 2021. ''Wall Street Journal'']</ref> As part of a share swap deal announced in May 2021,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cotterill |first=Joseph |title=Naspers launches share swap deal with Prosus to reduce impact of Tencent stake |work=[[Financial Times]] |url=https://www.ft.com/content/cd84b50c-219d-45c1-b734-a0becdd5c9a1 |url-status=live |access-date=16 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716075500/https://www.ft.com/content/cd84b50c-219d-45c1-b734-a0becdd5c9a1?accessToken=zwAAAXquhq6gkdPNhLUMIZ1FwdO3NKC-zdXJoQ.MEQCIBUtg4OKRWiSGMnvjrXmg_PYNJDRbIWUXq05A9dWkgsIAiBwSGlwDv5442YPuGXTxHoel5QFfDYdQESlNlftF3oLPw&sharetype=gift?token=c3bd9aab-3d1d-404a-8f91-9c211ef58f60 |archive-date=16 July 2021}}</ref> Prosus acquired a 49% stake in its parent company Naspers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sterling |first=Toby |title= Naspers, Prosus complete share swap, new cross-holding structure |work=MoneyWeb |url=https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/companies-and-deals/naspers-prosus-complete-share-swap-new-cross-holding-structure/ |url-status=live |access-date=18 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818070115/https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/companies-and-deals/naspers-prosus-complete-share-swap-new-cross-holding-structure/ |archive-date=18 August 2021}}</ref> Other major holdings of Prosus include:
* [[E-commerce]] – including [[OLX]] (100%)
* [[Fintech]] – including [[PayU]] (98.8%)
* Food delivery – including [[iFood]] (54.8%), [[Delivery Hero]] (22.3%) and [[Swiggy]] (38.8%)
* Retail – including eMag (80.1%)
* Travel – including its associate, [[Ctrip]] (6%)
* Mobility – [[Bykea]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Singh |first=Manish |date=30 September 2020 |title=Prosus Ventures leads $13 million investment in Pakistan's ride-hailing giant Bykea |publisher=techcrunch.com |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/30/prosus-ventures-leads-13-million-investment-in-pakistan-ride-hailing-giant-bykea/ |access-date=30 September 2020}}</ref>
* [[EdTech]] – [[Codecademy]], [[Stack Overflow]], [[Brainly]], [[Udemy]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dummett |first=Ben |date=2 June 2021 |title=Stack Overflow Sold to Tech Giant Prosus for $1.8 Billion |publisher=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/software-developer-community-stack-overflow-sold-to-tech-giant-prosus-for-1-8-billion-11622648400 |access-date=2 June 2021}}</ref>

Prosus is also the largest shareholder of social Internet platforms:

* [[Tencent]] (26.16%)<ref>{{Cite web |title=prosus 2022 annual report |url=https://www.prosusreport2023.com/pdf/AR-2023-full-spreads.pdf |archive-date= |access-date=25 September 2023}}</ref>
* [[VK (company)|VK]] (27.29%)<ref>{{Cite web |title= prosus2021-annual-report2 |url=https://presspage-production-content.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2658/prosus2021-annual-report2.pdf?10000 |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> – this investment was written off in March 2022.<ref name=":0" />

===Naspers South Africa===
Naspers South Africa operates three media, e-commerce & venture capital businesses in South Africa:

====Media24====
Naspers wholly owns [[Media24]], Africa's largest publisher, printer, and distributor of magazines and related products, as well its largest newspaper publisher.

====Takealot.com====
Naspers wholly owns [[Takealot.com]], South Africa's largest online retailer.

====Naspers Foundry====
Naspers Foundry is a South Africa-focused early stage venture capital fund that invests in firms that "address big societal needs".
Naspers Foundry ceased investment operations in March 2023, though it maintained its existing investments. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/telecoms-and-technology/2023-03-13-naspers-shuts-down-r14bn-sa-focused-tech-fund-foundry/|title=Naspers shuts down R1.4bn SA-focused tech fund Foundry}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==
* [[List of South African media]]
* [[List of South African mass media]]
* [[List of companies of South Africa]]
* [[Avusa]]


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


==External links==
==External links==
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* {{OpenCorp|Naspers}}
* {{OpenCorp|Naspers}}


{{Cape Town|economy}}
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{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange]]

[[Category:Media companies established in 1915]]
[[Category:1915 establishments in South Africa]]
[[Category:1915 establishments in South Africa]]
[[Category:1994 initial public offerings]]
[[Category:Publicly traded companies]]
[[Category:Companies based in Cape Town]]
[[Category:Companies based in Cape Town]]
[[Category:Media companies of South Africa]]
[[Category:Companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Companies in the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Index]]
[[Category:Tencent]]
[[Category:South African brands]]
[[Category:South African brands]]
[[Category:1994 initial public offerings]]
[[Category:Book publishing companies of South Africa]]
[[Category:Magazine publishing companies of South Africa]]
[[Category:Newspaper companies]]
[[Category:Mass media in Cape Town]]
[[Category:Television in South Africa]]
[[Category:Internet technology companies]]
[[Category:South African companies established in 1915]]

Latest revision as of 05:26, 2 December 2024

Naspers Limited
Company typePublic
JSE: NPN
LSE: NPSN
IndustryInternet, E-commerce, fintech, food delivery
Founded12 May 1915; 109 years ago (1915-05-12)
FounderW.A. Hofmeyr
Headquarters
Cape Town
,
South Africa
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Koos Bekker (Chair)[1]
Fabricio Bloisi(CEO)
Phuti Mahanyele-Dabengwa (CEO, South Africa)
RevenueIncrease US$22.1 billion (FY 2020)[2][3]
Increase US$3.7 billion (FY 2020)[4]
Total assetsIncrease US$36.3 billion (FY 2020)[3]
Total equityIncrease US$29.93 billion (FY 2020)[3]
Owner
SubsidiariesProsus (56.92%)
Media24
Takealot.com
Naspers Foundry
Websitewww.naspers.com

Naspers Limited (until 1998 Die Nasionale Pers) is a South African multinational internet, technology and multimedia holding company headquartered in Cape Town, with interests in online retail, publishing and venture capital investment. Naspers' principal shareholder is its Dutch listed investment subsidiary Prosus, which owns approximately 49% of its parent as part of a cross ownership structure.[5]

Founded in 1915 by attorney William Angus Hofmeyr [af], Die Nasionale Pers was the largest publishing company in South Africa throughout the 20th century with interests across newspapers, magazines and books. In the 1980s, the company began to diversify, launching a subscription television service and investing in markets outside of South Africa for the first time.

In 2001, Naspers made an early investment in Chinese technology firm Tencent and became increasingly focused on the global consumer internet sector. In 2019, Naspers listed its global internet investment business unit Prosus (including a 31% stake in Tencent) on Euronext Amsterdam.

Naspers currently owns a 56.92% stake in Prosus[5] and wholly owns Media24 (Africa's largest publishing company), Takealot.com (South Africa's largest online retailer) and Naspers Foundry, a South African focused venture capital fund.

History

[edit]

Founding and Afrikaner nationalism

[edit]

In December 1914,[6]: 164  twelve years after the end of the Second Boer War which had devastated most of South Africa and left most Afrikaners impoverished and subject to the British Empire, and during the pro-German Maritz rebellion, a group of sixteen prominent Cape Afrikaners decided at a meeting at District Bank manager Hendrik Bergh's house in Stellenbosch to form a publishing company that would support Afrikaner nationalism in the Union of South Africa.[7][8][9] This meeting led to Willie A. Hofmeyr, a well-known Cape lawyer and National Party organizer, founding Die Nasionale Pers Beperkt (National Press Ltd) in 1915 as a publisher of newspapers and magazines.[10][11] The firm's name was commonly shortened to Naspers (Die Nasionale Pers Beperk), the contraction eventually becoming used even by the company itself.

The launch of Die Nasionale Pers was financed by Jannie Marais, a prominent Stellenbosch farmer who had made a fortune in the Kimberley diamond mines and was the largest shareholder of the District Bank.[7][9] The press was closely associated with the National Party,[12] founded by General J. B. M. Hertzog in January 1914.[13] It began publishing the Afrikaans-language daily Die Burger (initially De Burger in Dutch) in June 1915, followed by its first magazine, Die Huisgenoot (initially De Huisgenoot), in 1916.[14]

Domestic expansion (1917–1986)

[edit]

In 1917, Die Nasionale Pers bought the weekly Bloemfontein-based Afrikaan newspaper Het Volksblad (now Volksblad), the first expansion beyond the Cape Province for the company.[15]: 410  By 1924, the links to the National Party were formalised.[6]: 165  In 1925, Die Volksblad started publishing daily. In 1937, it started Die Oosterlig in the Eastern Cape.[15]: 410  Also in 1937, Die Nasionale Pers set up the company Voortrekkerpers in the Transvaal to support the National Party in Transvaal by publishing Die Transvaler.[15]: 411  Initially the Cape National Party tried to control the extremism of the National Party in the Transvaal by appointing Hendrik Verwoerd as the paper's first editor but he would side with Transvaal branch and Nationale Pers gave up editorial control in 1939.[15]: 411  In order to combat the influence of Albert Hertzog in the Transvaal National Party, Die Nasionale Pers introduced a more enlightened Sunday newspaper in 1965 in the province called the Die Beeld in competition to the Dagbreek.[15]: 411  By 1970, these two papers, the latter owned by Perskor, to merge into a paper called the Rapport managed by both groups.[15]: 411  In 1965, Die Nasionale Pers launched their first English-language magazine Fairlady. In 1974, the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld began publishing daily for the Johannesburg market.[14]

Die Nasionale Pers entered the South African general and educational book publishing markets in 1918, initially publishing exclusively in Afrikaans. The company expanded to English-language titles in 1919 and Xhosa in 1922. It spun off its book publishing operations in 1950 into a separate business, Nasionale Boekhandel. In 1963, Die Nasionale Pers recommenced educational publishing operations through subsidiary Nasou.[14]

In 1973, Die Nasionale Pers took back control of Nasionale Boekhandel, before acquiring another publishing house Human & Rousseau in 1977. The press continued to develop its book publishing business during the 1980s, forming the Afrikaans-language book club Leserskring in 1979 and the English-language book club Leisure Hour.[14] In 1986, Die Nasionale Pers acquired publisher JL van Schaik.

In 1984, Die Nasionale Pers acquired Drum Publications, publisher of the Sunday newspaper City Press and weekly magazines Drum and True Love & Family, titles focused on a black readership.[14]

Diversification, IPO and international expansion (1986–2003)

[edit]

In 1986, Die Nasionale Pers formed a partnership with other South African publishing companies and launched pay-TV service M-Net.[16] M-Net proved successful and, with sister companies MultiChoice and M-Web, steadily expanded its operations both in South Africa and internationally throughout the 1990s.

In 1994, Die Nasionale Pers became publicly listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa.[17] The company also obtained a Level I American Depository Receipt listing on the London Stock Exchange.

In 1998, the company formally changed its name to Naspers Limited.[14] Naspers became increasingly focused on digital businesses; launching South African web portal Media24 and online retailer Kalahari.com in 1998 and Chinese-focused web portal SportCN in 2000. In May 2001, Naspers purchased 46.5 percent of Chinese internet company Tencent, owner of WeChat, and an array of fintech apps and mobile games, from early investors including PCCW (the owner of Now TV) and IDG Capital.[18][19] The investment has been referred to as one of the most successful venture capital deals of all time.[20] Making Naspers the most valuable publicly traded business in Africa by 2017.[21]

In 2003, Naspers took full ownership of subscription television business M-Net and its sister companies MultiChoice and M-Web, integrating their extensive operations across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.[22] Naspers also launched new publishing ventures in Nigeria and Hungary in 2003.[14]

Online ventures (2003–2015)

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With the success of the investment in Tencent, Naspers became an investor in a number of consumer internet startups. In January 2007 Naspers purchased a 30% share of Russia's largest internet company VK (company) (formerly Mail.ru Group) for $165 million.[23]

Naspers had a particular focus on India, investing more than $4 billion from 2014 to 2019,[24] across multiple sectors, including into Byju and ibibo. In December 2018, Naspers invested $1 billion into Indian online food ordering and delivery service Swiggy,[25] the largest single investment made, outside of China, into a food tech company.[26]

Consolidation (2015–present)

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In 2015, Naspers merged its South African–focused Kalahari.com online retail business with market leader Takealot.com, acquiring a 46% stake in the merged company and creating South Africa's largest online retailer.[27] By 2018, Naspers owned 96% of Takealot.com.[27]

In December 2016, Naspers announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell telecommunications company M-Web to Internet Solutions (a subsidiary of Japanese telecommunications conglomerate Nippon Telegraph and Telephone), pending approval by the South African competition authorities.[28][29] On 9 May 2017, it was announced that the South African competition authorities approved the proposed sale of M-Web, with 31 May 2017 being the effective commencement date.[30][31]

In March 2018 Naspers sold part of its stake in Tencent, raising some $10 billion to fund other investments. At the time, its initial investment of $32 million in Tencent was valued at over $175 billion.[32]

Naspers' video entertainment business was spun off as MultiChoice Group, on 27 February 2019, represented as MCG on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.[33] Shares in Multichoice Group were unbundled to Naspers shareholders, with Naspers retaining no stake in the newly listed company.[34]

Still in 2019, Naspers listed its global internet investment business on Euronext Amsterdam as Prosus,[35][36] which became Europe's largest consumer Internet company on its market debut. Share values gained over 25 percent on the day of its IPO, with Prosus' market capitalisation exceeding 125 billion pounds (US$138 billion). Prosus reported profits of $4.2 billion for its fiscal year ending 31 March 2019.

Naspers Labs, designed in partnership with RLabs and its founder Marlon Parker,[37] launched in 2019 as an economic initiative for unemployed youth in South Africa.[38]

In May 2021, Naspers announced a share swap deal with its Dutch-listed subsidiary Prosus in an attempt to reduce the discount between the asset value of the companies and their market capitalisation.[39] The deal, successfully completed in August 2021, reduced Naspers' stake in Prosus to 56.92% and gave Prosus an approximately 49% share in its parent company.[5]

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Naspers (through its subsidiary Prosus) wrote off its 27.29% investment, previously valued at US$769 million, in the Russian internet company VK.[40]

Controversies

[edit]

Apartheid

[edit]

Documents collected by OpenSecrets revealed how Die Nasionale Pers funded the National Party (NP) during apartheid, and that the NP also held 74,000 shares in Die Nasionale Pers in 1984.[citation needed]

In a letter written to F.W. de Klerk, on 17 August 1989, the then managing director of Die Nasionale Pers, Ton Vosloo, reaffirmed the company's support of the National Party. Vosloo reminded de Klerk of its donation of R150,000 (approximately R1-million today), made to the NP before the 1987 elections. The company had then also pledged a further R220,000 in support of the NP ahead of South Africa's last race-based general elections, in September 1989. Vosloo ended his letter, promising funding to the NP in Transvaal, by adding that "our newspaper Beeld in the Transvaal is your ally and we trust that this formidable combination will wipe out the competition."[41]

In 1997, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission requested that Die Nasionale Pers make a submission about the years between 1960 and 1994 (thus, broadly, between the Sharpeville massacre, in March 1960, and the first democratic elections of April 1994), specifically, the media's role during this period. Die Nasionale Pers refused to comply, which led to 127 employees each making an individual submission to the TRC, apologising for their role in the apartheid years. They said Die Nasionale Pers newspapers had formed an integral part of the power structure which implemented and maintained apartheid through, for instance, supporting the NP in elections and referendums.[42][43]

In 2015, Media24 CEO Esmare Weideman issued a case-limited apology citing a single employee, Conrad Sidego, who had experienced problems with separate facilities. She did not issue an unqualified apology for Naspers's role in supporting apartheid.[44]

Assets

[edit]

Naspers has two principal business units; Prosus & Naspers South Africa.

Prosus

[edit]

Prosus is the largest consumer internet company in Europe, and among the largest technology investors in the world, operating across a variety of platforms and geographies.[45] As part of a share swap deal announced in May 2021,[46] Prosus acquired a 49% stake in its parent company Naspers.[47] Other major holdings of Prosus include:

Prosus is also the largest shareholder of social Internet platforms:

Naspers South Africa

[edit]

Naspers South Africa operates three media, e-commerce & venture capital businesses in South Africa:

Media24

[edit]

Naspers wholly owns Media24, Africa's largest publisher, printer, and distributor of magazines and related products, as well its largest newspaper publisher.

Takealot.com

[edit]

Naspers wholly owns Takealot.com, South Africa's largest online retailer.

Naspers Foundry

[edit]

Naspers Foundry is a South Africa-focused early stage venture capital fund that invests in firms that "address big societal needs". Naspers Foundry ceased investment operations in March 2023, though it maintained its existing investments. [52]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "About | Naspers".
  2. ^ "Naspers Delivers Solid Results for the Twelve Months Ended 31 March 2020". Yahoo!. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Naspers Financial Statements 2020". Naspers. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Naspers delivers solid results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2020". Naspers. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Omarjee, Lameez. "Naspers-Prosus share swap done and dusted". News24. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b Klingenberg, Jana (2019), "De Burger-Leeskring: a Brief History of South Africa's First Commercial Book Club and its Effect on Afrikaans Literature", Quaerendo, 49, doi:10.1163/15700690-12341440, hdl:2263/72328
  7. ^ a b Pretorius, Fransjohan (2014). A History of South Africa: From the Distant Past to the Present Day. Hatsfield, Pretoria: Protea Book House. ISBN 978-1-86919-908-1.
  8. ^ "Naspers Ltd. History". Funding Universe. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  9. ^ a b Giliomee, Hermann (1987), "Western Cape farmers and the beginnings of Afrikaner nationalism, 1870–1915", Journal of Southern African Studies, 14 (1): 60, doi:10.1080/03057078708708159
  10. ^ "Naspers website: Our history". Company history. Naspers. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Apartheid Inc, the story of Naspers, Media24 and Channel Life". Media Alternatives. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  12. ^ Lizette, Rabe (17 July 2014). "From 'people's press' to global superstar". The Media Online. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  13. ^ Mouton, F.A. (2006), ""A Free, United South Africa Under the Union Jack": F.S. Malan, South Africanism and the British Empire, 1895–1924", Historia, 51 (1): 40, ISSN 0018-229X
  14. ^ a b c d e f g "Apartheid Inc. – Profile of a racist corporation, June 9, 2010". History Matters. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Davies, Rob; O'Meara, Dan; Dlamini, Sipho (1984). The Struggle for South Africa. Vol. 2. London: Zed Books. ISBN 0862322561 – via Internet Archive.
  16. ^ Gundan, Farai. "South African Billionaire And Media Tycoon, Koos Bekker To Step Down As CEO Of Naspers". Forbes. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  17. ^ "History of Naspers Ltd. – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com.
  18. ^ Patrick Boehler (21 February 2014). "South African media group struck gold by taking a chance on Tencent". scmp.com. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  19. ^ "A European Tech Giant Is Born, Spun Off From a South African Firm". The New York Times. 11 September 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  20. ^ "Tencent's 60,000% Runup Leads to One of the Biggest VC Payoffs Ever". Bloomberg Businessweek. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  21. ^ "Koos Bekker to Naspers' shareholders: You're richer because of Tencent - BizNews.com". BizNews.com. 28 August 2017. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  22. ^ "Naspers makes buy out offer".
  23. ^ "African Naspers buys 30% stake in one of Russia's biggest internet portals". C-News. 24 January 2007. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2007.
  24. ^ Varsha Meghani (25 October 2019). "Inside Naspers' big bet on India". Forbes India. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  25. ^ Ganguly, Shreya (20 December 2018). "Foodtech Unicorn Swiggy Bags $1 Bn In Funding Round Led By Naspers". Inc42 media. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  26. ^ Russell, Jon Food delivery startup Swiggy raises $1 billion more from Naspers, Tencent and others" Dec. 20, 2018. Techcrunch
  27. ^ a b "Naspers bags all of Takealot". 25 June 2018.
  28. ^ "Internet Solutions agrees to buy MWeb Connect". ITWeb. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  29. ^ MyBroadband (2 December 2016). "MWEB to be sold to Internet Solutions". BusinessTech. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  30. ^ "Commission approves MWeb sale to DiData". ITWeb. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  31. ^ "Competition Commission approves Internet Solutions' acquisition of MWEB". MyBroadband. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  32. ^ "South Africa's Naspers cashes in $10bn Tencent stake". 23 March 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  33. ^ Naspers revenue soars on improved e-commerce business, BusinessTech, 21 June 2019, retrieved 9 September 2019
  34. ^ "Naspers to list MultiChoice Group on the JSE – MyBroadband".
  35. ^ de Wet, Phillip (26 August 2019), Naspers expects to pay R736 million to list Prosus in Amsterdam – here are the advisors and law firms that will benefit most, Business Insider South Africa, retrieved 9 September 2019
  36. ^ Michael J. de la Merced (11 September 2019). "A European Tech Giant Is Born, Spun Off From a South African Firm". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  37. ^ "Naspers appoints CEO for South Africa". BusinessTech. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  38. ^ "7 things to know about the new CEO of Naspers SA". Fin24. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  39. ^ Wexler, Alexandra. "Tencent's Biggest Shareholder Looks to Fix Valuation Snag". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  40. ^ a b Shapshak, Toby (16 March 2022). "OPINIONISTA: Naspers does the right thing by axing its Russian platform, but pays a R12bn price". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  41. ^ "Declassified: Apartheid profits – the tap root of the National Party". Daily Maverick. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  42. ^ Rabe, Lizette (30 November 2017). "Chronicle of a coming of age? A media-historiographical revisit: The TRC, Naspers and Afrikaans journalism". litnet.co.za. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  43. ^ "NASPERS JOURNALISTS APOLOGISE FOR APARTHEID ROLE". www.justice.gov.za. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  44. ^ Etheridge, Jenna (25 July 2015). "Naspers apologises for its role in apartheid". news24.com. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  45. ^ Wexler, A. and Yang, J."Tencent's Biggest Investor Cashes In on Pandemic Rally" April 8, 2021. Wall Street Journal
  46. ^ Cotterill, Joseph. "Naspers launches share swap deal with Prosus to reduce impact of Tencent stake". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  47. ^ Sterling, Toby. "Naspers, Prosus complete share swap, new cross-holding structure". MoneyWeb. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  48. ^ Singh, Manish (30 September 2020). "Prosus Ventures leads $13 million investment in Pakistan's ride-hailing giant Bykea". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  49. ^ Dummett, Ben (2 June 2021). "Stack Overflow Sold to Tech Giant Prosus for $1.8 Billion". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  50. ^ "prosus 2022 annual report" (PDF). Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  51. ^ "prosus2021-annual-report2" (PDF). Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  52. ^ "Naspers shuts down R1.4bn SA-focused tech fund Foundry".
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