East Asia
Tencent unloads US$206 million in Futu shares amid China’s economic stimulus push
Tencent Holdings is the seller behind a share sale of Chinese brokerage-platform operator Futu Holdings, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest that takes advantage of improving market conditions after Beijing unveiled economic stimulus.
An unidentified shareholder raised about US$206 million after selling Futu’s American depositary shares at a 5.9 per cent premium to last close, according to terms seen by Bloomberg News on Thursday. It is rare to see investors offload stocks at premiums in block trades.
Tencent has been unwinding some of its investment portfolio and the Futu share sale is in line with the strategy, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Representatives for Tencent and Futu did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours in China.
Shares of Futu jumped 7.88 per cent in New York on Thursday, extending their four-day rally to more than 20 per cent.
