$250 million sold in two weeks! Prosus begins to reduce its stake in Meituan worth $4 billion
According to media reports, Dutch technology investment company Prosus has reduced its holdings of Meituan shares by approximately $250 million over the past two weeks and may continue to sell, with the proceeds being used to develop its other e-commerce brands. Meituan plans to invest $1 billion to expand its delivery brand Keeta in the Brazilian market, where Prosus's iFood holds a dominant position, posing a threat to iFood. Additionally, Meituan's entry into the Middle Eastern market also threatens the Talabat platform, in which Prosus has invested. Prosus is focusing on lifestyle e-commerce ecosystems in regions such as Latin America, Europe, and India, while reducing its holdings in non-core assets
After Meituan launched its food delivery battle in Brazil, Prosus quietly reduced its holdings of Meituan stock by $250 million.
On Wednesday, July 30, media reports cited sources revealing that the Dutch technology investment company Prosus has quietly reduced its holdings of approximately $250 million in Meituan stock over the past two weeks and may continue to sell. Sources indicated that Prosus plans to use the proceeds from the sale to develop its other e-commerce brands.
Prosus is a subsidiary of South African media giant Naspers and is one of the largest technology investment firms in the world. According to information disclosed on Prosus's official website, as of this Tuesday, the company held 257.5 million shares of Meituan, valued at approximately $4.2 billion based on the market value at that time, accounting for less than 5% of Meituan's total share capital.
Sources stated that Meituan announced an investment of $1 billion to promote its food delivery brand Keeta's expansion in Brazil, where the market is currently dominated by iFood, which is invested in by Prosus, and this move by Meituan poses a direct competitive threat to iFood. Additionally, Meituan has also entered the Middle Eastern market, indirectly threatening another asset in Prosus's portfolio—the UAE's food delivery platform Talabat, which is owned by Delivery Hero SE under Prosus.
Meituan warned that entering new overseas markets and intensified competition in the Chinese domestic market could impact its profits in the short term. On Wednesday, Meituan's ADR fell more than 4% during trading.
Prosus's Strategic Focus Shifts to Core E-commerce Ecosystem
Fahd Beg, head of investments at Prosus, stated, "Our top priority is to build the ecosystem we want to support." Prosus has previously indicated that it will focus on building its lifestyle e-commerce ecosystem in Latin America, Europe, and India in the future.
Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi is consolidating the company's vast investment portfolio, aiming to reduce the number of holdings and concentrate funds and efforts on core assets that can be controlled and integrated.
Under this strategic adjustment, Prosus is currently undergoing a series of significant asset allocation changes. The company is in the process of acquiring JustEat Takeaway.com in the Netherlands and plans to sell its 27% stake in Delivery Hero in Germany. Last year, Prosus also sold its stake in Trip.com for approximately $1.5 billion and reduced its holdings in JD.com by about 4%.
Under the leadership of CEO Fabricio Bloisi, Prosus is driving a new strategic layout and has achieved profitability for the first time this year. The core goal of this strategy is to double the group's market value by mid-2028. Since Bloisi took office more than a year ago, Prosus's stock price has risen by more than 50%
