Manus eyes $1bn raise to buy itself out of Meta acquisition after Chinese block

Manus AI, a Singapore-headquartered agentic-AI startup, is weighing a fresh capital raise of up to $1bn to fund the reversal of Meta’s $2bn-plus December acquisition. China’s National Development and Reform Commission ordered Meta to unwind the deal in late April, citing possible violations of Chinese investment rules and concerns about outflow of strategically important AI technology. Meta has been preparing for the unwind under a regulator-set deadline. Manus’s corporate history is central to the regulatory framing: it was founded in China, relocated its headquarters and core team to Singapore last year, and changed its operating entity to Singapore-based Butterfly Effect. Regulators argue the company remains within Chinese investment-review scope due to Chinese-origin technology and prior Chinese employment history. The proposed raise would buy Meta’s interest back, fund data removal and separation work, and recapitalize Manus for the next operating year.

"Manus AI, the Singapore-headquartered agentic-AI start-up at the centre of the Chinese regulatory block on Meta's $2bn-plus December acquisition, is weighing a fresh capital raise of up to $1bn to fund the unwind of the very deal that closed five months ago, Bloomberg reported on Thursday."

"The deal Manus is trying to reverse is unusual in shape. China's National Development and Reform Commission ordered Meta to unwind the acquisition in late April, citing possible violations of Chinese investment rules and concerns about the outflow of strategically important AI technology. Meta has been preparing for the unwind under a regulator-set deadline of weeks rather than months."

"By the time Meta acquired the company in December, Manus was, on its legal-structure documents, a Singaporean entity. Beijing's NDRC has taken the position that the Chinese-origin status of the underlying technology and the team's prior Chinese employment-history both still bring the company within the scope of Chinese investment-review rules."

"The new $1bn raise the Bloomberg report describes would, on the Bloomberg framing, be used to buy Meta's interest back, fund the data-removal-and-separation work the unwind requires, and capitalise the standalone Manus business through the next operating year."

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