, Columnist
Snapchat Could Use Allies. Is Tencent One of Them?
The Chinese technology giant's intentions aren't entirely clear.
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When times get tough, it helps to have a rich friend. Probably.
In Snapchat's quarterly securities filing on Wednesday, the company dropped news that affiliates of Tencent Holdings Ltd., the Chinese technology giant, bought 146 million of Snapchat Class A shares. That represents about 12 percent of all shares of parent company Snap Inc., but that figure understates the size of Tencent's splurge. Its shares are about 17 percent of publicly traded Snap shares.