TikTok owning company eyeing IPO

ByteDance, the $75bn Chinese start-up that owns the short-form video app TikTok, is eyeing an initial public offering in Hong Kong as soon as the first quarter of next year, according to two people briefed on its plans.

FT reports that the seven-year-old company, which also owns the Chinese news app Jinri Toutiao, has chosen Hong Kong over New York, despite the recent turmoil in the territory. The benchmark Hang Seng index has lost about 11 per cent from its high earlier this year amid mass street protests and civil unrest.

ByteDance’s valuation hit $75bn in October 2018 when it closed a $3bn funding round led by SoftBank, doubling its worth from a year earlier. An IPO would crystallise big gains for early investors such as the Chinese arm of Sequoia Capital and would also help SoftBank at a time when the value of its investments in companies such as Uber and WeWork has sharply fallen.

One of the few Chinese companies to have made significant inroads into international markets, ByteDance is facing increasing political pressure. In India, politicians have accused TikTok of inciting racial hatred and spreading pornography. The app was briefly banned earlier this year.

Via Financial Times