NPN - Naspers consolidates its leading position in Russian classifieds

Naspers’s (JSE: NPN; LSE: NPSN) Classifieds business, OLX Group, announced today an investment of US$1.16 billion, at an implied enterprise value of $3.85 billion, to acquire a further 29.1% stake in Avito, the leading online general classifieds and property platform in Russia. OLX Group’s stake increases from 70.4% to 99.6% on a fully diluted basis. The remaining shares are held by existing management.

Bob van Dijk, Naspers CEO said: “Avito is the leading online classifieds player in Russia and our decision to increase our stake reflects our belief in the long-term prospects of this great business and the Russian internet market. This investment further strengthens our global position in online classifieds, a core focus for Naspers alongside online food delivery and fintech.”

Naspers initially invested in Avito in 2013. Over the last five years Avito has established leading positions in five key categories: Goods, Autos, Real Estate, Jobs and Services. With 10.3 million daily unique visitors, Avito now attracts a large portion of the Russian internet population every day.

Avito continues to experience strong growth. In 1H 2019 revenues increased by 31% to US$162m, driven by enhanced product features, strong vertical traction and working closely with professional advertisers. The business continues to generate robust profit margins.

“Avito’s talented management team, led by CEO Vladimir Pravdivy, has demonstrated the capacity to achieve remarkable growth consistently over time,” said Martin Scheepbouwer, CEO of the OLX Group. “Business performance is excellent and we look forward to continuing this trend by further leveraging the technology, knowledge and experience from Avito within OLX Group and vice versa.”

The transaction closed on January 25, 2019 and was funded by Naspers’ existing cash resources.

About OLX Group

OLX Group is the Naspers Classifieds business, which operates a network of market-leading trading platforms across five continents.

With 350 million monthly users worldwide, OLX Group makes it fast and easy to buy and sell almost anything online, such as household goods, phones, cars and houses. Through consumer brands including Avito, OLX, letgo and many more, around 17 million items are exchanged on its apps and platforms every single month.

The company is powered by a team of 5,000 people, operating from +35 offices around the world.

About Naspers

Founded in 1915, Naspers is a global internet and entertainment group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Operating in more than 120 countries and markets with long-term growth potential, Naspers builds leading companies that empower people and enrich communities. It runs some of the world’s leading platforms in internet, video entertainment, and media.

Naspers companies connect people to each other and the wider world, help people improve their daily lives, and entertain audiences with the best of local and global content. Every day, millions of people use the products and services of companies that Naspers has invested in, acquired or built, including Avito, Brainly, BYJU’S, Codecademy, eMAG, Honor, ibibo, iFood, letgo, Media24, Movile, MultiChoice, OLX, PayU, Showmax, SimilarWeb, Swiggy, Takealot, Udemy, and WeBuyCars.

Similarly, hundreds of millions of people have made the platforms of its associates a part of their daily lives: Tencent (www.tencent.com; SEHK 00700), Mail.ru (www.corp.mail.ru; LSE: MAIL), MakeMyTrip Limited (www.makemytrip.com; NASDAQ:MMYT) and DeliveryHero (www.deliveryhero.com; Xetra: DHER)

Naspers has a primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (NPN.SJ) and a secondary listing on the A2X Exchange (NPN.AJ) in South Africa, and has an ADR listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: NPSN).

For more information, please visit www.naspers.com

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