Tencent to Hand $16 Billion Stake in JD.com to Its Shareholders

$Tencent(TCEHY.US)$ $JD.com(JD.US)$ Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. is planning to distribute more than $16 billion worth of shares in JD.com Inc. to its shareholders, which will result in it no longer being the Chinese e-commerce firm’s biggest shareholder.

From March on, Tencent will give out around 457 million Class A shares in JD.com as a special interim dividend, representing about 86.4% of its total stake and 14.7% of the online retailer’s total issued shares, according to a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday. At Wednesday’s close, that many shares were worth HK$127.7 billion ($16.4 billion).

Tencent, which controls about 17% of JD.com, will hold roughly 2.3% of the e-commerce company’s shares after the handout, JD.com said in a separate statement. As part of the deal, Tencent President Martin Lau will exit JD.com’s board effective Thursday.