Chinese investors who originally backed the AI startup Manus are planning to buy back the company from Meta for around US$2 billion, the same price Meta paid in December 2025, according to multiple sources [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].
The buyback group includes early investors Sequoia China (HSG), ZhenFund, and Tencent. US venture firm Benchmark, which also invested early, will not participate [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7]. Sequoia China and ZhenFund are considering using fresh capital to acquire Meta’s Manus shares and restructure the firm for Chinese legal ownership regulations [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7]. Reports say the investors plan to inject new US dollar funds into Manus as part of this process [5].
In April 2026, China’s foreign investment security review office ordered Meta to unwind its acquisition of Manus, citing concerns over foreign investment security. The office required Meta to revoke the deal, stating, “依法依规对外资收购Manus项目做出禁止投资决定，要求当事人撤销该收购交易” (according to regulations, the foreign acquisition of Manus is prohibited) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Following this, Meta separated operations from Manus and stopped any data sharing between the two companies [1, 2, 3, 4, 7].
Manus was acquired by Meta in December 2025 to enhance Meta’s agentic AI capabilities. At that time, Manus had about US$100 million in annualized revenue. After the acquisition, revenues surged to US$400–500 million annually [1, 2, 3, 7].
Manus is now considering restructuring into a joint venture incorporated in China, potentially to position itself for a future initial public offering in Hong Kong [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7]. Chinese authorities have highlighted their readiness to respond decisively to speculative moves in such deals, with Japanese Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki noting, “面对投机性操作，当局已准备好果断应对 (authorities are prepared to respond firmly against speculative actions)” [6].
None of the parties — Meta, Manus, or the investors — have publicly commented on the buyback reports. Reuters and other outlets have not independently confirmed the deal details [1, 2, 3, 7].
The planned buyback price of around US$2 billion translates to approximately 8.276 billion Malaysian Ringgit and about 63 billion New Taiwan Dollars [5, 6].
The buyback discussions were reported by The Information by June 18, 2026, marking the latest development after China’s foreign investment review office directive in April 2026 and Meta’s operational separation from Manus [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7].
