(Yicai Global) Dec. 22 -- ByteDance rejected a media report that said the TikTok owner plans to buy a stake in China Mobile Games and Entertainment Group. The denial choked off a steep run-up in the mobile game publisher’s share price today.

ByteDance will buy all or part of a 27.6 percent stake in CMGE held by Fairview Ridge Investment for between HKD4 and HKD5 (52 and 65 US cents) a share, Reuters reported earlier today, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Beijing-based ByteDance denied the report, according to online news outlet The Paper.

CMGE [HKG: 0302] surged as much as 21 percent before pulling back to close almost 1 percent up at HKD3.11. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 percent.

Shenzhen-based CMGE, which is well-known for its intellectual property-adapted games such as Naruto: Ninja Master, floated on the Nasdaq in 2012, only to delist six years later. It went public again in Hong Kong in October last year.

Editor: Kim Taylor