Tencent Holdings Ltd. TCEHY 1.88% is looking to sell most or all of its stake in food-delivery company Meituan, 3690 -9.07% people familiar with the matter said, as Beijing seeks to curb the power and influence of the country’s internet giants.
Tencent has held talks with investment banks to explore ways to dispose of at least a major portion of its roughly 17% stake in Meituan, one of the people said. That stake was worth about $24 billion as of Monday’s market close, before a Reuters report about Tencent’s plan sent Meituan’s Hong Kong-listed shares tumbling on Tuesday.
Shenzhen-headquartered Tencent, a social-media powerhouse that owns the do-everything app WeChat, aims to start reducing its ownership in Meituan when the timing is favorable, the person said. It hasn’t determined whether to sell its shares in one or more large transactions, or via other means, the person said.