Auction site Tradus, the former QXL Ricardo, has agreed to be sold to South African media group Naspers as expected - but for even more than had been forecast over the weekend. The pair agreed an £18-a-share offer, valuing Tradus at £946 million - 36.7 percent higher than the average share price during its most recent half-year. The proposal is due to be put to shareholders in February. This would appear to open up a new line in internet business for Naspers, which has formed a new company, MIH Internet, under its Myriad International Holdings (MIH) division to manage the acquisition. Fixed on emerging markets MIH operates the M-Web portal, Chinese portal Tencent and TV services.

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In today’s statement, Naspers said it “has prioritised the internet sector for expansion”, having achieved success in communications, social networking and community. It also confirmed it’s targeting central and eastern Europe - its acquisition of Polish ad-funded instant messenger Gadu-Gadu is ongong and Tradus is primarily based out of Poland and Switzerland. But Naspers said its current internet plays are mostly ad-funded and it wants to expand in to transactional income.