Naspers, the stock moved higher as news came through that Chinese regulators have allowed Tencent to open a private bank, Webank is the name, Tencent will own 30 percent, the rest by private businesses and individuals.
Remembering that this is relevant to Naspers because they own 33.85 percent of Tencent, it is the biggest driver of their share price. 33.85 percent of Tencet's market cap of 1,204 trillion Hong Kong Dollars as per the Stock Information of the Tencent website (at 1.36 Rand to the Hong Kong Dollar) is 554 billion Rand. Market cap of Naspers? 545 billion Rand last evening. What? It does not make any sense to me, admittedly Naspers had not opened here, but you get a satellite TV business for free essentially.
A little more about Webank quickly, the other main founders are a crowd called Shenzhen Baiyeyuan Investment Company and Shenzhen Liye Group. The bank will be serving individual customers as well as small and micro-businesses. It will be located in Shenzhen. This is a push in the direction of the Chinese authorities to privatise the banking sector in the country, allowing for a more competitive landscape.
Alibaba and Tencent were able to capture around 65 billion Dollars of client funds into money markets at higher rates before the authorities even put those plans out to pasture, this is a sign that the authorities recognise that privatisation of the banking sector is needed. How does this make you feel as a shareholder indirectly of Chinese loans and banking assets?