China’s Tencent takes 12 percent stake in Snap as shares plunge, LinkedIn and Silver Lake take stake in Cornerstone OnDemand and SpaceX suffers Merlin engine test mishap.

China’s Tencent Takes 12 Percent Stake in Snap as Shares Plunge

Snap Inc. said on Wednesday that Chinese tech and media investment firm Tencent Holdings had taken a 12 percent stake in the company, a day after the owner of disappearing-messaging app Snapchat was punished by Wall Street for disappointing quarterly results, Reuters reports. Snap’s shares fell 16 percent to $12.67, well below their $17 initial public offering price in March, as investors fretted about Snap’s slowing user growth in the latest quarter and viewed Tencent’s move as an investment rather than the precursor to a merger.

LinkedIn, Silver Lake Take Stake In Cornerstone OnDemand

Cornerstone OnDemand, a personnel management software developer, announced on Wednesday that private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and Microsoft Corp.’s LinkedIn plan to invest $300 million in the company, the Business Journal reports. The Santa Monica-based company said in a press release that it intends to use the proceeds to market to new customers, pay down debt and repurchase about $100 million worth of common stock.

SpaceX Suffers Merlin Engine Test Mishap

SpaceX said it suffered a failure of a Merlin rocket engine during a recent test at its Texas facility, but that the incident would not delay any upcoming launches, SpaceNews reports. The incident, which took place Nov. 4, may have involved a new version of the Merlin engine being developed by SpaceX for the next upgrade of the company’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.