Tencent Takes Minority Stake in Snap

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China’s Tencent, which is behind the messaging platform WeChat, has purchased around a 12 percent stake in Snap Inc.

Tencent was an early pre-IPO backer of Snap, which is home to the popular Snapchat service. The Chinese behemoth has acquired roughly 146 million shares in the public market since its March public offering, Snap said. The purchase adds to an investment Tencent made in Snap in 2013, during a fundraising round before the company went public.

“We have long been inspired by the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of Tencent and we are grateful to continue our longstanding and productive relationship that began over four years ago,” Snap Inc. said in its 10-Q filing. “For its part, Martin Lau, Tencent’s president, informed us that Tencent is excited to deepen its shareholding relationship with us and that it looks forward to sharing ideas and experiences.”