New York (CNN Business) The messaging app Kik was on the verge of shutting down, but a holding company, MediaLab, bought it and will invest in its future, the company said.

At its peak, Kik had hundreds of millions of registered users and the company earned a private market valuation of $1 billion, placing it in the elite ranks of tech unicorns. But in September, Kik Interactive announced it would shut down the messenger app after a fight with regulators.

The company has been spared from closure by MediaLab, which also owns Whisper, another anonymous social media app on iOS and Android.

"We believe that Kik's best days remain ahead of it," MediaLab wrote in a statement Friday on Kik's website. The company said that to cover the app's expenses, it's introducing ads. It also said it would develop the app to be faster, more reliable and remove bugs.

The Kik Interactive team did not return a request for comment Saturday on whether it still plans to layoff its Kik staff.

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