WeChat Owner Takes a Big Stake in Snapchat

Ivana Kottasová

(CNN Money) -- Chinese tech giant Tencent has taken a major stake in Snap.

The parent company of Snapchat said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that Tencent and its affiliates have purchased over 145 million of its shares.

That works out to a stake of just over 10%.

Snap said in its filing that Tencent, which developed the hugely popular messaging platform WeChat, had informed the American firm that it "looks forward to sharing ideas."

The startup has been struggling since it went public eight months ago. Its shares are down 38% from their peak in March.

Snap said Tuesday that it is planning to redesign its messaging application to make it easier to use after facing several consecutive quarters of anemic user growth.