Tencent Holdings intends to invest several hundred million dollars in Paramount Skydance\u2019s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to people familiar with the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chinese company would be acting as a passive financial investor, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paramount\u2019s offer for Warner Bros. in December included a $1 billion (R16.82 billion) equity commitment from Tencent, according to a\u00a0filing<\/a>\u00a0at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, that was\u00a0withdrawn\u00a0after Warner Bros. raised concerns that the Chinese company\u2019s presence could lead to national security challenges with US regulators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After Paramount raised and amended its offer, Warner Bros. agreed to sell to the David Ellison-led company in a deal worth $110 billion (R1.85 trillion).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tencent might still decide not to invest, the people said, adding that it could take a while for the deal to be completed.\u00a0 Representatives for Tencent and Paramount declined to comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tencent’s largest shareholder is South Africa’s Naspers, which owns about 24% of the company, primarily through Naspers’ subsidiary Prosus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other major shareholders include founder and CEO Pony Ma, which owns about 8%, as well as The Vanguard Group and BlackRock, each with about 3% shareholdings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The remaining shareholders are primarily individuals and retail investors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chinese ownership of US assets has been a cause for concern in Washington, resulting in a\u00a0deal for<\/a>\u00a0social media site TikTok\u2019s US operation this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Supercell Oy, a Finnish video-game company owned by Tencent,\u00a0said this month\u00a0it is cooperating with a US security probe of its Chinese parent\u2019s data practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tencent already\u00a0holds\u00a0a minority nonvoting stake in Paramount. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It also has co-financed films produced by Skydance such as\u00a0Terminator: Dark Fate,<\/em>\u00a0and helped with marketing and distribution of the studio\u2019s blockbusters since its\u00a0strategic investment<\/a>\u00a0in the then Skydance Media in 2018.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n