Tencent shareholders get US$16.4 bil windfall as JD.com stake given as dividend

BEIJING/HONG KONG: Chinese gaming and social media company Tencent will hand a $16.4 billion JD.com stake as a dividend to its shareholders, weakening its ties to the e-commerce firm and raising questions about its plans for other holdings.

Tencent said on Thursday it will distribute HK$127.69 billion ($16.37 billion) worth of its JD.com stake to shareholders, slashing its holding in China's second-biggest e-commerce company to 2.3% from around 17% now and losing its spot as JD.com's biggest shareholder to Walmart.