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Alex Webb

Naspers Brings SoftBank-Style Mega-Tech to Europe

A $100 billion technology investor is about to land in the continent.

The European Masayoshi Son? — The European Masayoshi Son?
Photographer: Halden Krog/Bloomberg

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March 25, 2019, 2:14 PM UTC

The perennial worry about European technology is that there isn’t a consumer-facing giant to rival the size of Apple Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

In one fell swoop, it’s about to get one. Sort of. Naspers Ltd., South Africa’s most valuable company, plans to list its internet businesses in Amsterdam by distributing a stake of about 25 percent to existing shareholders, while retaining the rest of the new holding company. The valuation could top $100 billion.