Tencent, HSG, and ZhenFund plan to repurchase AI startup Manus from Meta Platforms. The investor consortium will pay the original acquisition price of $2 billion.
Chinese regulators reportedly pressured Meta to unwind the deal due to foreign ownership concerns regarding strategic AI assets. The investor group is currently considering raising new capital to fund the acquisition.
Manus grew its annualized revenue from $100 million since its initial acquisition. The startup now generates between $400 million and $500 million in annual revenue. This growth makes the buyback at the original valuation highly attractive for the Chinese investors.