China is giving Manus to Tencent after blocking Meta’s attempted acquisition

China is pushing Manus toward a new group of owners after telling Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) to reverse its $2 billion purchase of the AI agent startup.

As per the Financial Times, Tencent Holdings (HKEX: 0700) will hold the maximum stake, but not more than 50 percent. It means that Manus will remain an independent entity and will continue its operations from Singapore instead of becoming a part of Tencent.

The new deal would keep the same $2 billion valuation used when Meta bought Manus in December 2025. Former investors such as Tencent, ZhenFund, and HSG are taking part in the talks, along with Manus executives. Other investors could still join before an agreement is reached.

China forces investors to rebuild Manus after Meta separates the business

Beijing ordered Meta to reverse the purchase in April 2026, saying the deal broke local investment rules. Manus co-founder Xiao Hong and other founders were called to Beijing, then prevented from leaving China. Officials had already called the sale a “conspiratorial” attempt to drain the country’s technology base.

Meta bought Manus only months after the startup transferred its headquarters and main engineering team from China to Singapore. The company had first been created in China. After closing the acquisition, Meta quickly connected Manus to its wider platform, including its advertising tools and systems.

That setup has since been pulled apart. Meta has separated the two businesses and ended data transfers between them. The legal and financial reversal is still unfinished, which leaves investors trying to rebuild Manus while the original purchase is formally taken apart.

Beijing’s order also tells other Chinese technology founders that Singapore cannot be treated as an easy stop before selling to an American buyer. China is tightening control over valuable AI companies, engineers, and intellectual property as competition with the United States grows.

Tencent’s shares fell 2% in Hong Kong on Thursday after news of the talks became public. The proposed investment would deepen a relationship that Tencent already has with Manus and Xiao. Tencent also sees a bigger Manus stake as useful for its own work on AI agents.

Tencent backs Manus growth while investors prepare for a Hong Kong listing

The investors returning to Manus believe the company can keep expanding without Meta and later seek a listing in Hong Kong. Manus reached almost $500 million in annual recurring revenue earlier this year, far above the level recorded when Meta agreed to buy it. One person involved warned that the company may struggle to keep that pace without Meta’s network, products, and customer reach.

A Hong Kong flotation would likely require Manus to change its corporate structure so Chinese regulators can approve it. The company would also need to show that its Singapore base does not place key assets or control outside Beijing’s reach.

Tencent brings scale, capital, and a huge investment portfolio to the talks. It is the world’s largest video game seller and one of China’s biggest listed companies by market value. Its operations cover social media, music, web services, online shopping, mobile gaming, payments, smartphones, internet products, and multiplayer games.

The group runs WeChat, Tencent QQ, and QQ.com. Its value passed $500 billion in 2018, making it the first Asian technology company to cross that level. By February 2022, it ranked as the world’s tenth-largest company by market value and China’s most valuable publicly traded business.

Boston Consulting Group and Fast Company placed Tencent among the world’s 50 most innovative companies in 2015, 2018, and 2020. Tencent owns stakes in more than 600 companies and increased its focus on Asian technology startups in 2017.

Tencent’s market value came close to $1 trillion in January 2021 before falling sharply. It had recovered by November 2025. Tencent Holdings also placed 35th on the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 list.