Chinese internet titan Tencent is pivoting from years of aggressive stakebuilding to a focus on divestments as it comes under pressure from investors and Beijing’s recent antipathy towards Big Tech.
As part of an important shift in strategy, the company has outlined a soft target of divesting about Rmb100bn ($14.5bn) of its $88bn listed equity portfolio this year, according to two people familiar with the matter. This would take place depending on market conditions and internal profit targets.
Partial divestments in large Chinese companies such as food delivery service Meituan were in the pipeline, the people said. Meituan was not a top priority for share sales owing to its strong performance, but cutting its stake could help reduce pressure on Tencent from the anti-monopoly regulator, the people said.