Manus Founder Xiao Hong to Return to Singapore as Exit Restrictions Are Lifted

According to Beating Monitor, citing two informed sources, regulators are preparing to lift travel restrictions on Xiao Hong, founder and CEO of Manus, and others. Xiao Hong has informed employees of his plan to return to Singapore soon. In March, Xiao Hong and Ji Yichao, co-founder and chief scientist of Manus, were required to remain in the country as regulators investigated whether Meta’s acquisition of Manus violated relevant regulations. In April, regulators ordered Meta to withdraw the approximately $2 billion acquisition. This week, Manus officially confirmed it will resume independent operations. The separation plan is also largely finalized: original shareholders including Tencent, ZhenFund, and HSG will participate in the buyback, with Tencent acquiring most of Benchmark’s shares to become Manus’s largest single shareholder, though its stake will not exceed 50%. Manus will not be merged into Tencent and will continue to operate independently from Singapore. The final plan still requires regulatory approval. Based on the current proposal, regulators have only required the termination of Meta’s acquisition relationship with Manus, not the relocation of Manus’s operations back to the country.