AppLovin Stake Conversion

A story about how AppLovin's initial $2B acquisition deal transformed when it was blocked by Trump administration.

"We were sitting in the office when this news happens - congrats, that's amazing, $2 billion deal. But then 9 months goes by and the deal doesn't fully get approved because it was such a big purchase from a Chinese company.

In the meantime, the business just kept crushing it. So Adam, the CEO, basically went back and said 'Cool, we'll still do the $2 billion but now it's for 30%.' You couldn't do majority deals - that was the big block. Then the company eventually IPO'd.

The deal evolved from what was going to be a majority deal into a smaller stake, but at the same valuation, because the business had grown so much during the waiting period."