Asian Tech Press (Sep 24) -- Chinese Internet firm Sohu.com Ltd (SOHU:NASDAQ GS) announced Thursday the sale of Sogou shares worth $1.18 billion, and the completion of the merger between its search engine Sogou Inc (SOGO:NYSE) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (TCEHY:OTC US).

After the merger is completed, Sogou will become an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent and complete its delisting.

This is the first time Sogou has disclosed further details of the merger since July 13 this year, when China's top market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) unconditionally approved Tencent's acquisition of Sogou.

In the announcement, Sohu said it sold all of the Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares at a purchase price of $9 per share. And Sohu received gross consideration of approximately $1.18 billion in cash and no longer holds any ownership interest in Sogou.

According to Tencent insiders, the merger will enter a substantive stage after Sogou's delisting. Previously, Sogou had an independent brand-product matrix. After becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent, Sogou's original businesses, including search, AI, input method, browser and reading products, and team will be integrated with similar products of Tencent's Platform & Content Group (PCG).

Previously, it was reported that Tencent may formally announce the merger of Sogou this week. After the merger, most of Sogou's businesses and products will be shut down and will no longer operate as independent brands, but will be integrated into Tencent Kandian, a content service for info stream from Tencent.

Recruitment for Tencent Kandian is currently suspended, while Sogou Hao, Sogou's open content platform, ceased operations and services at 5 p.m. BST on September 22, 2021.