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NPN - Naspers Limited - Acquisition Of Brazilian E-Commerce Operator BuscaPe
Naspers Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1925/001431/06)
JSE share code: NPN ISIN: ZAE000015889
LSE ADS code: NPSN ISIN: US 6315121003
ACQUISITION OF BRAZILIAN E-COMMERCE OPERATOR BuscaPe
South Africa, 29 September 2009: Naspers Limited (JSE: NPN, LSE: NPSN) today
announced that it has acquired 91% of the share capital of Brazilian e-
commerce group BuscaPe.com Inc. for an amount of US$342m. The acquisition
will be funded from available resources.
Headquartered in Sao Paulo, the BuscaPe group is a leading provider of e-
commerce services in Latin America. Its various properties enable consumers
to make informed purchase decisions and transact on the internet. The core
business generates lead-referral revenues from merchants and other listing
providers.
The group started some ten years ago from the basis of comparison shopping.
Today BuscaPe is Latin America`s top such network for new and used goods and
one of the region`s best-known internet brands. It is the exclusive provider
of comparison shopping solutions to more than 100 portals and websites in
Latin America, including Microsoft, Globo and Abril, with over 10 million
products and over 320 000 online and offline stores.
In recent years BuscaPe acquired a competitor, Bondfaro. It also expanded
with QueBarato, the leading free-classifieds network in Latin America.
Electronic payments can be done with Pagamento Digital. In addition it has an
affiliate advertising network named Lomadee, an e-commerce research business,
eBit, and a fraud risk assessment service, FControl.
The BuscaPe group has a strong management team with a proven track record.
Four of the initial founders are still with the group and hold strategic
positions. The team will remain in the business with material personal
interests locked in for up to five years.
Antonie Roux, head of internet at Naspers, said that "BuscaPe gives us a fast-
growing business in line with our e-commerce focus. It`s a diversified
internet platform: a whole spectrum of business models within the e-commerce
value chain across core Latin American markets."
E-commerce is one of the most promising areas of the internet. Through the
acquisition of Allegro and Ricardo (Tradus), Naspers built up considerable
knowledge in this field. BuscaPe CEO Romero Rodrigues said that "given
Naspers`s extensive experience in the internet, they can help us grow to the
next level. Some future collaboration between Allegro and BuscaPe is
likely".
Latin America is of particular interest to the group. The region is home to
some 550 million people. Favourable demographics, rising disposable incomes,
underleveraged consumers and a less-penetrated internet market provides a
good investment backdrop.
Hein Brand, CEO of Naspers`s operations in Latin America, commented that
"after investments in Abril and Compera nTime, Naspers has developed a good
understanding of the fast-growing Brazilian market. BuscaPe is one of the few
established players in the industry, and can grow further".
Contact details:
Meloy Horn
Head of Investor Relations
Naspers
+27 11 289 3320
+27 82 772 7123
Meloy.horn@naspers.com
Important legal information:
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the
United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as
"believe", "anticipate", "intend", "seek", "will", "plan", "could", "may",
"endeavour" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-
looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such
statements. While these forward-looking statements represent our judgements
and future expectations, a number of risks, uncertainties and other important
factors could cause actual developments and results to differ materially from
our expectations. These include factors that could adversely affect our
businesses and financial performance. We are not under any obligation to (and
expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-
looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
About Naspers:
Naspers is a multinational media company with principal operations in
electronic media (including pay television, internet and the provision of
related technologies) and print media (publishing, distribution and printing
of magazines, newspapers and books).The group creates media content, builds
brand names around it, and manages the platforms distributing the content.
Naspers`s most significant operations are located in South Africa, elsewhere
in sub-Saharan Africa, China, Russia, eastern Europe, the Netherlands, Brazil
and India.
29 September 2009
Sponsor: Investec Bank Limited
Date: 29/09/2009 08:00:02 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za
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