In a recent Naspers Provisional report, the company has revealed its true stake in Takealot.com. Kalahari.com and Takealot.com completed their merger earlier this year, but the exact numbers behind the relationship weren’t disclosed. Many however believed that Takealot had benefited most from the deal.
This merger was first announced in October 2014, but got the go ahead from the Competition Commission of South Africa in January.
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During the February 2015 merger, Naspers acquired 46.5% interest in Takealot.com (Takealot Online). The purchase equates to a R1.2-billion acquisition. Instead of handing over cash, Takealot received 612 977 worth of Naspers N ordinary shares. The purchase resulted in R154-million in disposable gain for Naspers.
According to the report, Naspers’s fully diluted interest in Takealot is 41.86%.
Naspers put a positive gloss on the merger in its report:
In South Africa, Kalahari and Takealot merged to create a viable consumer destination in a smaller market and bring a greater selection of products and higher quality customer service to a previously underserved market.
From the merger, Kalahari was then absorbed into Takealot to form a much larger, and more robust store. This new store has slowly been adding some of Kalahari’s features, such as moving over original eBook purchases for customers and launching an eBook store. This merger has recently been stressed with adverts featuring the Takealot emblem and Kalahari’s mascot, Karl Ahari, meeting and falling in love to form the “perfect match.”
The report in its entirety can be read here.
Takelot’s influence in the local market still remains to be seen. The giant now own majority market-share of the South African ecommerce space.
