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Bloomberg
Naspers Ltd. is in talks to lead an investment of as much as $200 million in India’s Swiggy to increase its stake in the online food-delivery company, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Africa’s biggest company by market value plans to team up with China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. to put together the new financing round, said the people, who asked not to be named as the information isn’t public.
Naspers owns 33 percent of Tencent, which drives profit growth at the Cape Town-based technology and media company.
The talks come after Larry Illg, the head of Naspers’s new investments unit, told investors at a meeting in New York in December that order volumes at Swiggy have more than doubled year-on-year and that the global food delivery industry is still at an early stage of development.
Naspers and Tencent see significant opportunities to co-invest in India, CEO Bob van Dijk said in the same presentation, without mentioning Swiggy. Jane Yip, a spokeswoman for Tencent, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Naspers invested an initial $80 million in Swiggy in May.
Swiggy is the largest food delivery business in India. Talks between the company, Naspers and Tencent are advanced, according to one of the people. Naspers shares have gained more than 70 percent in the past 12 months, valuing the company at $129 billion.