Mergers and Acquisitions

Tencent Holdings Limited in its US$50 million investment in Kik Interactive Inc.

Tencent Holdings Limited

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Expertise
Mergers and Acquisitions
Key Contact
Chad Bayne

Partner, Emerging and High Growth Companies, Toronto

Team
Joanna Fine

Partner, Privacy and Data Management, Toronto

 

On August 17, 2015, Tencent Holding Limited completed a $50 million investment in Canadian messaging app, Kik. Kik is a popular app among 13 to 24 year-olds in North America and has 240 million registered users.

Tencent is the $200 billion Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. arch-rival and owner of WeChat, a Chinese social messaging platform that Kik has aspirations to become. This transaction is a strategic partnership to help the start-up win mobile messenger supremacy. The funding will be used primarily to grow the Kik team and to expand offerings on the app.

Osler acted for Tencent with a team comprised of Chad Bayne, Simon Leith (M&A), Joanna Fine (Privacy) and Colin Kelly (Employment & Labour).

Value
$50 million
Date Closed
August 17, 2015
Lead Office
Toronto
Key Contact
Chad Bayne

Partner, Emerging and High Growth Companies, Toronto

Team
Joanna Fine

Partner, Privacy and Data Management, Toronto

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