Tencent Music to buy Chinese audio platform Ximalaya for US$2.4 billion
[BEIJING] Chinese music platform Tencent Music Entertainment Group said on Tuesday (Jun 10) it would buy long-form audio platform Ximalaya for about US$2.4 billion in cash and stock, expanding its library of content to attract more paying users.
US-listed shares of Tencent rose 7 per cent in premarket trading.
The company will offer US$1.26 billion in cash and Class A shares representing up to 5.20 per cent of its total outstanding stock. It will also issue shares to Ximalaya's founder investors not exceeding 0.37 per cent of its total share count.
The stock component of the deal totals about US$1.15 billion based on Tencent Music's last closing price on April 24.
Closely held Ximalaya counts Tencent, Baidu and Sony Group's music entertainment unit as backers. The company filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering in 2021, but pushed back the plan. The app-based online audio platform had 303 million monthly active users as of 2023, according to a separate listing application it filed last year.
Tencent Music is one of the biggest online music entertainment platforms in China, with apps such as QQ Music, Kugou, Kuwo and WeSing, according to its website. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
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