Tencent unloads US$206 million in Futu shares amid China’s economic stimulus push

Tencent has been unwinding some of its investment portfolio and the Futu share sale is in line with the strategy, a source says

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The Tencent headquarters in Shenzhen, southern China. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:11am, 27 Sep 2024

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.

The Futu headquarters in Shenzhen, China. Photo: Iris Ouyang

Shareholders in some Chinese companies have cashed out more than US$1 billion from their holdings in the past week. Internet investing firm Prosus has sold its entire stake in online travel agency Trip.com in a US$743 million block trade, Bloomberg News has reported. Chinese search engine Baidu later sold US$534 million in the company’s American depositary shares.