China’s Tencent Holdings wants to sell most — if not all — of its stake in the food delivery platform Meituan as the government cracks down on the country’s Big Tech companies.
That’s according to a report Tuesday (Aug. 16) by the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter.
One of the sources said Tencent had met with investment banks to learn how it could shed at least a large part of the roughly 17% stake it has in Meituan. Per the report, the stake was worth $24 billion until news broke about Tencent’s plan and Meituan’s shares dropped.
Tencent, a social media company and owner of the WeChat super app, hopes to scale back its ownership in Meituan when the timing is on its side, the source told the Journal. That person added that the company hasn’t decided if it wants to sell the shares in single or multiple transactions, or through other means.
Tencent did not immediately respond to a request for comment by PYMNTS Tuesday.
The news comes weeks after reports that Tencent was preparing to shutter its year-old non-fungible token (NFT) platform, apparently due to a government ban on secondary digital collectible markets.
See also: China’s Tencent to Shut Down NFT Platform
In June, Tencent and a number of other Chinese tech companies signed a pledge to stop the secondary trading of NFTs.
Meituan, one of the most valuable tech companies in China, offers an app that lets people order meals and groceries, reserve restaurant tables and make travel arrangements.
Read more: Meituan Loses $26B in Value as Chinese Regulators Step In
Earlier this year, Meituan lost $26 billion after Chinese regulators said they wanted to reduce the fees food platforms charge restaurants.
In 2021, Chinese regulators fined Meituan $537 million for abusing its market position, telling the company to change the way it operates and to treat its delivery riders better.
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