The Unknown European Tech Giant

[Bloomberg] [Fully Charged]( From [Bloomberg](   [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]( [Twitter Share]( [SUBSCRIBE [Subscribe]](  Hi everyone, it’s Nat in Brussels. Europe’s better known for strictly regulating web giants than fostering its own. That could change in September when the continent gets its biggest tech company nobody’s heard of. Prosus, a spin-off of Naspers Ltd.’s international internet assets, is slated to become Europe’s largest listed consumer internet group by asset value when it lists on Amsterdam’s Euronext exchange on Sept. 11. The [new company](bbg://news/stories/POXF4T6S9728) will include Naspers’ 31% stake in game-maker Tencent Holding Ltd., which alone is worth about $140 billion. Not bad considering it dates back to a $32 million investment made in 2001 for what was at the time an obscure Chinese web firm. Prosus will also incorporate Naspers’ stakes in German online food service Delivery Hero SE and Russian internet company Mail.ru, among others. Naspers' origins stem from the South African newspaper industry. The fact that one of Europe's largest tech companies will have little to do with Europe is, well, sort of European. But let's look again at the tired trope that Europe doesn't have any tech companies of its own. In fact, that Naspers is relocating to Europe is a compliment to the fact that, between the sabre-rattling protectionism between the U.S. and China, a multi-national tech investor can happily find a home in Amsterdam. Naspers says its web businesses offer products and services that are used regularly by one fifth of the world’s population, and it’s continued to beef up investments in tech companies with the hopes of replicating its 2001 [move into Tencent](. Last week, it said it led a $30 million investment funding round in [U.S. startup Brainly](bbg://news/stories/PV8H3RDWX2PT), which lets learners help each other with homework problems in different parts of the world. In July, it co-led with EQT Ventures a Series A investment round of 30 million euros ($33.4 million) into European micromobility company Dott. And in June, it backed South African on-demand [housekeeping service](bbg://news/stories/PTEB6E6S9728) SweepSouth with a 30 million-rand ($2.1 million) investment. The valuation gap between the Tencent investment and Naspers’ total market value of around $111 billion in Johannesburg partly motivated the decision to list its internet businesses on the Euronext to close that discount. With the move to Amsterdam, management is hoping to access a bigger pool of capital to shrink the [discount](bbg://news/stories/POYSPO6VDKHT). And all that new capital coming to Europe might find its way into more regional startups. While Prosus' value is underpinned by the Tencent stake, Naspers Chief Executive Officer Bob van Dijk says he believes the group’s European tech investments "will generate additional interest and support for the new listing,” according to a video statement on the [company website](. Sure, Europe doesn't have many tech giants. But if you can't make them, you can convince them to come anyway.  And here's what you need to know in global technology news [Takeaway.com made a 5 billion pound bid to devour rival Just Eat](bbg://news/stories/PVEEAC6JTSEA), as competition heats up in the food-delivery space.  [Jack Ma is changing Chinese banking](bbg://news/stories/PVE6BG6TTDS0) doling out loans to small businesses within three minutes, using zero human bankers.  [Google’s cloud-computing unit unveiled]( an expanded partnership with software maker VMware, as the Alphabet division seeks to catch up to rivals that have similar deals.  [A fraud has flourished on Facebook](, where scammers impersonate real American service members to cheat lonely women out of their money, The New York Times reports.    You received this message because you are subscribed to the Bloomberg Technology newsletter Fully Charged. You can tell your friends to [sign up here](.  [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022