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China Probes Merger Between Douyu & Huya

By  |  December 14, 2020

China’s market regulator announced on Monday, December 14, it is investigating the merger between Tencent-backed live game-streaming companies Douyu International Holdings and Huya.

Huya will buy Douyu in a stock-for-stock merger deal, the companies announced in October. The merged entity would have a combined Chinese market share of more than 80%, according to data from MobTech.

The US$6 billion merger between China’s two largest games live streaming companies, Huya and DouYu, both of which have US share listings, was initiated by social media, games and streaming giant Tencent in October. Upon completion, Tencent plans to sell its own game live streaming business Penguin eSports to the new company, effecting a three-way consolidation of the sector.

The merged company would be a giant with some 300 million monthly active users, before overlapping subscriptions are eliminated, and could account for 80% of the Chinese market. Tencent would have 67.5% voting control of the enlarged company.

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