Asian Tech Press -- Chinese search engine firm Sogou Inc. (NYSE: SOGO) said in its second-quarter earnings report on Monday that its going-private deal is now expected to close in the second half of this year.

It showed that on September 29, 2020, Sogou announced that it had signed a definitive agreement and plan of merger with THL A21 Limited, TitanSupernova Limited, and Tencent Mobility Limited, all direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK).

Under the agreement, TitanSupernova Limited will merge with Sogou in an all-cash transaction. Upon completion of the merger, Sogou will become an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent.

The parties to the transaction now expect that the merger transaction will close in the second half of 2021, subject to all merger conditions being satisfied or waived.

China's top market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced on July 13 that it unconditionally approved the acquisition of Sogou by Tencent.

Previously, media reports said that Tencent would initially complete the merger of Sogou as early as August, with the main Sogou team merging with Tencent Kandian, a content service for info stream from Tencent.

After the completion of the overall delisting of Sogou, the current CEO Wang Xiaochuan may leave Sogou to start his own business, sources familiar with the matter said.