Asian Tech Press (Nov 1) -- South African internet group Naspers Ltd. and Chinese state-owned investment firm CITIC denied on Tuesday that they were in talks on Tencent shares.

Earlier, sources said a CITIC-led consortium was in talks with Tencent's major South African shareholder to buy all the Tencent shares it owns.

Prosus N.V., a subsidiary of Naspers Ltd., Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd's largest shareholder, still held 2,692.6 million Tencent shares, valued at $70.5 billion, according to its net asset value statement as of Oct. 31.

Naspers issued a statement on Tuesday denying the news, saying it remained confident in Tencent's long-term prospects.

CITIC Group said, "The rumor is untrue, and there are no relevant plans."