Kik Messenger was granted a reprieve from closure, as MediaLab detailed a deal to acquire the messaging app from parent company Kik Interactive.

MediaLab, a holding company which owns other apps including social media platform Whisper, said in a blog “Kik has shown an incredible ability to provide a platform for new friendships to be forged through your mobile phone” adding it “felt this was a community we wanted to help continue”.

The announcement comes less than a month after Kik Interactive CEO Ted Livingston said the company would shut down the messenger app to free up resources for a legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Over the coming months, MediaLab said it will revamp Kik to make it “faster, more reliable and less buggy”, and rid the platform of spam.

It plans to introduce advertisements to help cover expenses and will drop a handful of features which “weren’t optimised”, including a video chat toggle and third-party bots platform, to focus on the rebuild.

“We believe that Kik’s best days remain ahead of it…While we’re really excited about all the potential, we promise to never lose sight of what makes Kik special.”