BEIJING: China's antitrust regulator unconditionally approved on Tuesday Tencent Holdings Ltd's plan to take the country's no.3 search engine Sogou Inc private in a $3.5 billion deal.

       Reuters had reported the pending approval in April by State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR).

       The deal, announced in September, was for Tencent to buy the 60% of U.S.-listed Sogou that it didn't already own, making it the latest Chinese company to exit U.S. markets amid tensions between the world's two largest economies. - Reuters