(FT) Shares of JD.com fell more than 7% on Thursday after Tencent said it was divesting $16 billion worth of shares in the e-commerce giant.
Tencent’s move reflects moves to cut stake in JD.com on mounting Beijing scrutiny on the tech sector.
Tencent expects to begin handing out the 460 million shares in JD.com to shareholders in March, effectively reducing its stake to only 2.3% from 17%.
The stake cut by Tencent is not connected to any specific request by Beijing, with reports saying the company is sending a message that it is not trying to acquire influence through the holding, which has become a source of the tussle with Beijing.
The tech giant also says it could relinquish some JD.com shares in an open market to address regulatory issues and concerns of fractional shares for its US investors.
Tencent, which has been actively nurturing numerous startups and acquiring stakes in others, expects to exit additional positions in portfolio firms.
9618: HKG is down -7.02%, 0700: HKG is up +4.24%.
