Chinese internet company Tencent invests 1.64 billion euros in Tesla

Chinese Tencent has acquired 5% of the shares of car manufacturer Tesla Motors. The internet company has put 1.78 billion dollars on the table for this, converted about 1.64 billion euros. Tesla wants to use the money for the production of the Model 3.

That Tencent has invested heavily in Tesla is apparent from documents submitted to regulatory authorities, Reuters writes. Tencent has bought 8.2 million Tesla shares, making it the fifth largest shareholder. Elon Musk is in first place with 21 percent, followed by several investment companies.

At the end of February, Tesla CEO Elon Musk already indicated that raising more investment capital would be a “logical step” to avoid risks in the production of the Model 3. Production of the cheapest Tesla to date should start in July. According to the manufacturer, everything is going according to plan.

The Chinese Tencent is one of the largest internet companies in the world, but focuses its services mainly on China. The company is the creator of the chat service WeChat, which has 864 million active users. Last year, the company paid $8.6 billion to acquire the maker of mobile game Clash of Clans.