Tencent faces concessions to win green light for giant videogaming merger

(Reuters) – Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd is having to offer concessions in a plan to merge the country’s top two videogame live-streaming sites in order to resolve antitrust concerns, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Tencent, China’s No. 1 videogame and social media firm, first announced plans to merge Huya and DouYu last year in a tieup designed to streamline its stakes in the firms, estimated by data firm MobTech to have an 80% slice of a market already worth more than $3 billion and growing fast.

But with regulators concerned the deal would give Tencent overwhelming dominance, it’s willing to settle for approval subject to conditions, according to the people, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.