Investing.com - Hong Kong-listed technology giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700) is investing $150 million in U.S. discussion platform Reddit, according to Techcrunch that cited multiple unnamed sources.
The investment is part of a Series D fundraising round, the report said, adding that the investment could propel Reddit to be valued at over $3 billion.
Some media later suggested that the investment created “a great deal of confusion,” as Reddit is currently blocked in China. Tencent also owns a stake in Snapchat, which is also blocked by China’s “Great Firewall,” the country’s network of internet censorship.
It was later reported that Reddit users were unhappy with the news and flooded the site with protest messages following the reported investment.
Tencent owns the all-in-one messaging app WeChat and is considered as one of the biggest gaming company in the world thanks to the ownership of the popular “League of Legends.”
The company’s stocks recovered slightly late last month after tumbling since 2018 as one of its game titles received approval from Chinese regulators. It was the first time the industry leader gained the green light since China started resuming gaming approvals in December.
The firm was being left out from the first three batches of new game titles that were approved by China's publishing regulator.
Despite the slight recovery, Tencent’s shares are still down about 25% from its all-time high in January 2018.