Renren sells off social network assets for US$20 mln

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Renren, a social media platform that was once widely seen as China's answer to Facebook, will sell all of its social networking service (SNS) assets for 20 million US dollars, the company confirmed on Wednesday, after failing to adapt to new trends set by platforms like WeChat and more recently Tik Tok.

According to a statement on the company's website, Renren's SNS assets will be bought by Beijing Infinities Interactive Media (BIIM), with Renren's parent company Beijing Qianxiang Wangjing also set to receive 40 million US dollars' worth of shares in BIIM as part of the deal.

According to China Daily, Renren Chairman and CEO Joseph Chen said, "I am happy to find a home for Renren.com. Looking ahead, our company will be serving global, vertical industries with Internet and artificial intelligence."

Renren will now focus on its used car sales platform and SaaS (software as a service) businesses.

In the first quarter of this year, the company's revenue increased by 570 percent year-on-year, reaching 140.5 million US dollars after a successful transition into the second-hand vehicle sector, which made up 123.6 million US dollars of that revenue.

Renren listed on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2011. /VCG Photo

According to the company, there were still 31 million unique monthly users logging into Renren.com as of March this year.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange and once used by more than 100 million active monthly users at its peak, Renren was established in 2005.

Like Facebook, it began on a university campus, with students from Beijing-based Tsinghua University among others forming "Xiaonei.com", the name of which literally means "on campus". The website invited users to create profiles and share images and videos. It later expanded into online gaming and other Internet services.

The 2011 listing on the NYSE saw the company's shares hit 84 US dollars, putting the company behind only Tencent and Baidu in terms of market capitalization. On Wednesday, the share price was only at 1.52 US dollars, showing how far the company has fallen in investors' eyes since its peak.

According to the company's statement, Renren will remain listed in the US after selling its SNS assets.