Menu

Naspers, Africa’s largest company by market capitalization, announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Myriad International Holdings (MIH), is exploring the possibility of an international US dollar bond offering by meeting potential investors on a roadshow.

The Cape Town-based company said it plans to use the proceeds from the offering, if completed, for general corporate purposes and to repay MIH’s existing notes maturing in July 2017.

The bond sale comes as Naspers is reportedly considering divesting from its pay-TV business – Multichoice Africa – owing to sluggish economic growth in key markets and the growing trend of viewers switching to online alternatives. Naspers is reportedly in talks with MTN Group over the sale of Multichoice, according to Bloomberg.

With a valuation of about $90 billion, Naspers is a global Internet and entertainment company with operations in 130 countries. The company has made investments in internet companies, including Konga, a Nigeria-based online retailer; and OLX, a classifieds website. Naspers also owns 34 percent of Tencent, the Chinese Internet giant – a stake worth about $107 billion.

In its 2016 half-year ended on September 30th, Naspers said revenue rose by 16 percent year-on-year to $6.8 billion driven by its Internet division, which accounts for 72 percent of total revenue. Headline earnings – the company’s main profit measure – rose by 31 percent to $914 million.