Tencent is in talks to acquire Manus: an insider says it will retain the position of minority shareholders

Deep Tide TechFlow news: On July 11, according to Nanfang Metropolis Daily, Tencent is in talks to become the largest shareholder of Manus, a general-purpose AI Agent company. A group of China-based capital backed by Tencent is planning to repurchase all of Manus’s equity from Meta at an estimated valuation of about $2 billion. But insiders said that after the deal is completed, Tencent will still hold a minority shareholder position and will not control the company.

Manus is an AI Agent product launched by the butterfly-effect company. It surged overnight in March 2025 in China, with annualized revenue already exceeding $100 million. Previously, Meta announced an acquisition of Manus, but because the Ministry of Commerce and foreign investment security review mechanisms got involved, the acquisition was legally banned in April 2026 and ordered to be reversed. This China-based capital buyback is the subsequent development after the acquisition was halted.