(Yicai Global) April 4 -- Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has purchased shares of the two Chinese software firms of Weimeng Enterprise Development and China Youzan to strengthen its mobile mini-program prowess. 

Tencent purchased nearly 97 million common stocks of Weimeng's mobile commerce platform Weimob, the Shanghai-based target firm said in a statement yesterday. The Shenzhen-headquartered buyer now has 155 million stocks of Weimeng, or almost 8 percent of its equity, becoming the second-biggest shareholder.  

Tencent led Youzhan's latest investment round worth nearly HKD1 billion (USD127.4 million), the Hong Kong-based target company said in a statement yesterday. The buyer's affiliate now has a nearly 7 percent stake in the mini-program developer.

Both Weimob and Youzhan provide clients with software solutions that run on Tencent's lifestyle and messaging platform WeChat. Tencent's investment may boost collaboration in terms of e-commerce, third-party payments and marketing tools, and allow it to get a cut from gains. 

Weimob's stock price [HKG: 2013] started its rally yesterday, and rose over 5 percent this morning to HKD5 (US 60 cents). Youzhan's equity [HKG: 8083] has fallen nearly 3 percent today to HKD0.7 (US 10 cents). Tencent's stock [HKG: 0700] has risen modestly to HKD379.2 (USD48). 

Founded in 2012, Youzan offers software-as-a-service products, payment services, and customer engagement tools for mobile merchants. 

Weimob, established in 2013, builds customer relationship management systems for WeChat vendors.

Editor: Emmi Laine