South African e-commerce group Naspers said on Friday that its subsidiary Myriad International Holdings B.V. (MIH B.V.) had successfully priced a $1 billion bond to fund a note repayment and acquisitions.<\/p>\n
The bonds will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Naspers, the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n
An application has been made for the admission of the bonds to listing on the Official List and trading on the Global Exchange Market of the Irish Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n
The net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions, and to repay MIH B.V.\u2019s existing notes maturing in July 2017.<\/p>\n
Naspers, which currently constitutes 17% of the 166-member index, has gained 28% in 2017, primarily because Tencent, of which it owns a third, surged almost 50% in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
However the company has also faced controversy \u00a0following the much publicised circulation of an open investor letter, calling for the unbundling of Tencent from the rest of Nasper\u2019s shares.<\/p>\n