ByteDance Valuation To Hit $180B As TikTok Owner Eyes IPO For Douyin

TikTok owner ByteDance could see its valuation jump to a stunning $180 billion as it seeks another round of investor cash as part of an emerging plan to list some of its businesses on Hong Kong’s stock exchange.

ByteDance is in talks with current investors to raise an additional $2 billion, a deal that, in turn, would value the Chinese tech giant at $180 billion, Reuters and Bloomberg both reported, citing sources familiar with the discussions.

That represents a more than 28 percent increase over ByteDance’s last valuation, which CB Insights last month pegged at $140 billion.

The world’s largest tech startup, ByteDance has seen its value soar over the past two years, with the Beijing-based startup valued at $78 billion in 2018 during its last round of financing.

General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital are among the current investors ByteDance is seeking additional capital from as the company weighs its options for listing some of its businesses in Hong Kong.

Executives at ByteDance are currently discussing the details of the potential listing and are exploring two different options.

One would involve simply listing Douyin, the Chinese TikTok, on the Hong Kong exchange. Douyin hit 600 million daily users in August, up from 400 million at the start of the year.

Under the other option, Douyin and news aggregator Jinri Toutiao would be listed as a package on either the Hong Kong or Shanghai stock exchanges, according to Reuters.

ByteDance is looking at listing Douyin and other businesses on Chinese exchanges as it negotiates a complex deal, under pressure from the Trump Administration, to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations.

ByteDance has been haggling over the terms with would-be TikTok investors/buyers Oracle and Walmart, with the ultimate fate of the deal likely tied to the outcome of the still undecided presidential election in the U.S.

The  Trump administration has cited potential access by Chinese authorities to the personal data of more than 100 million Americans in its push to force ByteDance to sell off TikTok to an American company.