(Yicai Global) May 14 -- Social platform operator Momo Inc. has purchased a 100-percent stake in Tantan Ltd., a China-based matchmaking app akin to Tinder, as it looks to diversify its product range.

The Beijing-based firm unveiled plans to take over Tantan in February and picked it up for 2.65 million American Depositary Shares [NASDAQ:MOMO] and USD600 million in cash, the firm said in a statement on May 12. The target company and platform will continue to run independently.

"Our core position will continue to center on social networking and this acquisition enriches our product line in the social space," said Momo Chairman Yan Tang. "We will continue to invest and incubate more sub-brands to serve the social and entertainment needs of different demographics."

Momo took flak for facilitating one-night stands in its earlier years and has pumped millions of dollars into trying to reverse its image and cover all social and relationship-building bases. The latest deal could further this aim as Tantan is known for protecting women online, such as by automatically sending a notification to those who receive suspect or sexual messages from men and allowing them to quickly report the male for harassment, if necessary.

Tantan formed in 2015 and claims to have enabled over 3.3 billion matches, compared with Tinder, which boasts 20 billion matches worldwide since its 2012 release.

"Momo and Tantan have their own strengths in their respective markets and among targeted customers," Yu Wang, Tantan chairman, said in a separate statement. The acquisition is a critical strategic upgrade to cover a greater range of user demographics and needs, and build up a larger social networking market through complementary businesses and strategic synergy. We are very confident in our future development."

Editor: James Boynton