SOGOU Inc. said Tuesday shareholder Tencent Holdings Ltd. would take the Internet search firm private in a US$3.5 billion deal, making it the latest Chinese company to exit U.S. markets as tensions mount between the world’s two largest economies.

The move comes a day after Chinese social network Weibo’s owner Sina Corp. said it would be taken private in a US$2.6 billion deal. Rival e-commerce firms Alibaba and JD.com have also sought to return to equity markets closer to home by making secondary listings in Hong Kong.

The offer price represents a premium of 56.5 percent to Sogou’s close July 24, the last trading day before Tencent offered to take it private.

Controlling stakeholder Sohu.com Inc. said it would receive about US$1.18 billion in cash from Tencent as part of the deal, sending its shares up about 14 percent in premarket trading.

Tencent currently owns a 39.2 percent stake in Sogou, according to a letter it sent to Sogou shareholders in July.

Sogou, which was founded in 2005 and debuted on the U.S. market in November 2017, generates revenue mainly through search advertising services.

Goldman Sachs (Asia) is acting as financial adviser to Tencent on the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Chinese companies that once pursued the recognition and liquidity of listing their shares in the United States have shown an increasing appetite to turn instead to their home markets. Qihoo 360 Technology Co. delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in July 2016 and then sold shares in Shanghai in 2018 as 360 Security Technology Inc.

A number of Chinese tech firms have since delisted from U.S. exchanges or turned to other markets amid growing scrutiny by regulators. (SD-Agencies)