China's antitrust regulator is poised to order the music streaming arm of Tencent Holdings Ltd to give up exclusive rights to music labels, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
The people said at the time that the gaming and social media leader was lobbying for a more lenient penalty. Still, SAMR on Saturday said it would block Tencent Holding's plan to merge China's two biggest videogame streaming site operators - Huya Inc and DouYu International Holdings Ltd - on antitrust grounds, confirming an earlier Reuters report.SAMR began investigating Tencent Music in 2018 but stopped in 2019 after the company agreed to stop renewing some of its exclusive rights, which normally expire after three years, two people with knowledge of the matter previously told Reuters.