Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Baker & McKenzie have represented Chinese Internet firm Tencent Holdings Ltd on its $448 million acquisition of a 36.5 percent stake in Chinese Internet search provider Sogou Inc.

The deal will see Tencent and Sogou co-develop and integrate their products and services. Tencent will merge its search-related businesses and certain other assets with Sogou, while some of Sogou’s flagship products – including Sogou Pinyin and Sogou Search – will have direct access to Tencent’s customer base and online and mobile social communities.

“By accessing Tencent's strong innovation capabilities and deeply integrating with Tencent’s core platform, Sogou will herald a new era of relentless innovation in the mobile world,” said Wang Xiaochuan, CEO of Sogou, in a statement. “For example, the optimisation of Sogou Pinyin for Tencent’s mobile IM services will deliver superior user experience, while the interaction between search and social network will bring a multitude of opportunities.”

Led by China practice group head Jeanette Chan, Paul Weiss advised Tencent on the transaction. Headed by Shanghai-based partner Howard Wu, Baker & McKenzie represented THL A21 Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent.

Boston-headquartered Goulston & Storrs advised Sogou and its parent company Sohu, while Haiwen & Partners provided PRC legal advice.

Credit Suisse was the financial adviser to Sohu’s board of directors, and was advised by a Shearman & Sterling team led by Hong Kong corporate partner Paul Strecker.

Kanishk Verghese is North Asia journalist at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.