New York: Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd purchased a 5% stake in Tesla Inc. as the electric-car maker run by Elon Musk races to bring its critical Model 3 sedan to market later this year.
Shenzhen-based Tencent paid about $1.8 billion for 8.17 million shares through the company’s recent stock offering and through open-market purchases, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.
The acquisition makes Tencent, the owner of the WeChat messaging app, Tesla’s fifth-largest shareholder, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Tesla said earlier this month it would raise as much as $1.4 billion through a stock and debt offering, more than initially sought, as it looked to cushion its balance sheet amid heavy spending to introduce the lower-priced Model 3.
Shares of the Palo Alto, California-based company rose 3% to $278.14 at 7:32 a.m. in New York, before the start of regular trading. Bloomberg
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