(Yicai) Feb. 26 -- Chinese tech giant Baidu has completed the acquisition of the Chinese livestreaming business of Joyy Group for around USD2.1 billion, down from its initial offer of USD3.6 billion.

Baidu has reached a new agreement with Joyy to buy YY Live, the Beijing-based company announced yesterday. As part of the deal, about USD1.6 billion held in escrow was released to Baidu, which the firm plans to reinvest into its cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure, it added.

Joyy received around USD1.86 billion in February 2021 and an additional USD240 million in cash consideration yesterday, the Guangzhou-based company noted.

Shares of Baidu [NASDAQ: BIDU] closed 1.3 percent higher at USD89.02 apiece in New York yesterday, while Joyy's stock [NASDAQ: YY] jumped 4 percent to USD52.08.

In November 2020, Baidu agreed to buy YY Live for USD3.6 billion, putting USD1.6 billion into an escrow account. The acquisition was seen as a strategic move for the tech firm to enhance its mobile ecosystem amid the rapid rise of short video and livestreaming platforms such as ByteDance's Douyin and Kuaishou Technology.

However, shortly after the announcement, short-seller Muddy Waters Research released a report alleging that 90 percent of YY Live's revenue was fraudulent. Although Baidu claimed to have completed due diligence and amended the agreement, skepticism in the market persisted.

On Feb. 8, 2021, Joyy said the transaction was largely complete. However, the State Administration for Market Regulation revealed that it was conducting an antitrust review of Baidu's acquisition of Joyy and 11 other concentration cases in September of that year, with the results still pending at the time.

On Jan. 1 last year, Baidu announced that its affiliate firm Moon SPV terminated the agreement to buy YY Live because the closing conditions were not fully met as of the end of 2023. In response, Joyy said it would seek legal counsel and consider all options.

Established in April 2005, Joyy's other businesses include game livestreaming operator Huya, social media app Hago, livestreaming platform Bigo Live, and short-video site Likee. It offers services in over 150 countries and regions worldwide.

Editor: Martin Kadiev