Naspers buys $775m stake in online food service Delivery Hero

2017-09-28 Stefan Nicola

A view of a logo in a lounge area of the global headquarters of online food ordering and delivery giant Delivery Hero is pictured in Berlin on June 27, 2017.
Germany-based online food ordering service Delivery Hero plans a Frankfurt stock market flotation on June 30, 2017 saying investors’ cash will help it expand further around the world. / AFP PHOTO / John MACDOUGALL

Berlin – Naspers [JSE:NPN] agreed to pay $775m to boost its stake in Germany’s Delivery Hero as Africa’s biggest company increases its exposure to the online food-delivery market.

The media and technology business will buy stock from Rocket Internet at €29.50 a share, it said in a statement on Thursday. That’s a discount of 12% based on Wednesday’s closing price, making the South African company the biggest investor with a stake of 24%.

The deal strengthens Naspers’s position in internet food delivery, with Delivery Hero sitting alongside iFood in Brazil and Swiggy of India in the company’s portfolio. Naspers has become one of the world’s largest investors in e-commerce ventures as it tries to build on the success of its early stage investment in Tencent, which is now worth about $136bn. It’s also Africa’s largest pay-TV provider.

“It’s another company in the developing world portfolio and reinforces the value sitting in Naspers,” Michael Treherne, a money manager at Johannesburg-based Vestact, said by phone.