Prosus and Naspers name iFood head Bloisi as new CEO

By Nqobile Dludla

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -Dutch technology investor Prosus and its South African parent group Naspers on Friday named the head of their iFood business, Fabricio Bloisi, as their new CEO, replacing long-time boss Bob van Dijk who stepped down last September.

The companies, whose main asset is Prosus's 26% stake in Chinese tech giant Tencent, said Bloisi - currently the CEO of Latin American food delivery business iFood - would assume the role at both companies on July 1.

"He (Bloisi) has a combination of vision, deep operational experience and strong discipline. It is this skill set which the board believes make him the right person to now lead us," Prosus and Naspers Chair Koos Bekker said in a statement.

Bloisi welcomed the opportunity to lead both companies, adding: "A company like Prosus must play an important role in identifying new technologies, such as AI, that impact the world and specifically emerging markets".

Prosus said the group's strategic goals remained unchanged, adding it was on track to deliver on e-commerce profitability in the second half of its 2024 financial year and continue its open-ended share repurchase programme.

Outgoing CEO Dijk oversaw Prosus's initial public offering in 2019 and the stock's strong performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. But its shares fell in the broadly post-pandemic correction in technology valuations, and the company has struggled to reduce its discount to Tencent.

Since Bloisi is not as experienced in international mergers and acquisitions and dealing with investors, the board appointed interim CEO Ervin Tu as president and chief investment officer, Bekker told investors on a call.

"As our new President and CIO, he will play a fundamental role in shaping the group's future strategy, investments, and capital allocation," Bekker added.

But Bloisi will have the final say on capital allocation, Tu told investors.

Prosus shares were down 3.10% at 1116 GMT, while Naspers' were down 3.11%.

"Whilst we think the market will take some time to get to know Bloisi and could be sceptical initially ... we believe the team of Bloisi heading and Tu alongside could work well," UBS analyst Joseph Barnet-Lamb said.

Jefferies analysts said Bloisi's skills as an owner-operator were unlikely to be fully used at the helm of Prosus given investments in both public and private companies have their own operators.

"We would have preferred a capital allocator with a track record in either private or public market expertise at the helm of Prosus," they said.

(Additional reporting by Radhika Anilkumar and Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Mark Potter)