Tencent Holdings Limited (SEHK:700) is looking into shedding more of its huge investment portfolio as the Chinese social-media and videogame company tries to fund a series of share buybacks and refocus its growth strategy, people familiar with the matter said. The technology giant, which owns stakes in some of China's largest internet companies, has recently completed a regular review of its sprawling portfolio and identified its priorities for possible stake sales based on the returns these investments have generated, the people said. Potential disposals could include KE Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BEKE), Meituan (SEHK:3690) and DiDi Global Inc. (OTCPK:DIDI.Y), they added.

Tencent is in no rush to execute the divestments, the people said, and it is unclear when they will happen. The review into potential disposals is being driven partly by the desire to free up cash from some matured assets to allow Tencent to invest in other areas such as videogames and healthcare. Another motivation is to support buybacks to ward off the pressure on Tencent's share price as Prosus NV, its biggest shareholder, reduces its stake in the Chinese company, according to people familiar with the matter.

As of the market close on September 19, 2022, Tencent's stakes in KE Holdings, Meituan and Didi were worth $29 billion, and the total value of Tencent's stakes in listed companies was at $82.7 billion, according to calculations by Robin Zhu, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. Tencent doesn't have any pipeline, arbitrary timeline or target amounts for divestments, a company spokesperson said. “We have always invested with the goal of generating strong returns for our company and shareholders, not according to any arbitrary timeline or target,” the spokesperson said.

KE Holdings declined to comment. Meituan and Didi didn't respond to requests for comment.