Sohu.com Inc., Sogou Inc. and Tencent Holdings Limited jointly announced the establishment of a strategic cooperation that will reinforce and strengthen Sogou as a leader in the large and fast-growing China market for search and internet services, particularly for the mobile platform. To implement this strategic cooperation, Tencent has invested a net amount of $448 million in cash in Sogou and merged its Soso search related businesses and certain other assets with Sogou. Immediately after the transaction, Tencent holds 36.5% of Sogou's equity capital on a fully-diluted basis, which could further increase to approximately 40% in the near future.

Sohu, together with its affiliates, remains the controlling shareholder of Sogou, which will continue to operate independently as a subsidiary of Sohu. Dr. Charles Zhang, Sohu's Chairman and CEO, will remain as Chairman of Sogou. Mr. Martin Lau, President of Tencent, and Mr. Mark Ren, Chief Operating Officer of Tencent, have joined Sogou's Board of Directors.

Mr. Wang Xiaochuan will continue to lead Sogou as a director and CEO.