With a valuation of nearly US$400 billion, app factory ByteDance – known chiefly as the company behind TikTok, Douyin, and Toutiao – has submitted a letter to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange indicating that the company is seeking underwriters for a listing, local news media China Securities reported on Wednesday, citing an anonymous source.
Photo credit: ByteDance
The Beijing-based tech giant’s hiring of former Xiaomi executive Zhou Shouzi as chief financial officer in late March was seen as a move to prepare for an initial public offering.
Last month, a Reuters report said ByteDance was considering listing Douyin, the Chinese twin of global sensation TikTok, in Hong Kong or New York. The rest of its Chinese businesses, including news aggregator Toutiao and video-streaming platform Xigua, will seek ticker codes in either Hong Kong or the Star market in Shanghai, the report said.
Kuaishou, Douyin’s major competitor, completed its US$5.3 billion IPO in Hong Kong in February.
This report was first published on KrAsia.
Editing by Miguel Cordon
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