ByteDance Offers Share Buyback Scheme for Investors

TikTok owner ByteDance has offered to buy back shares from investors for about $5 billion at a price that would cost the company $268 billion, two people familiar with the matter said on Dec 6. The Chinese tech giant offered to buy back shares for $160 a share, the same amount it paid employees last month.

 One of the sources said the $268 billion is worth 10% less than when it launched a plan to buy money from investors a year ago.

The South China Morning Post first reported it on Dec 6 morning. ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sources were not identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

ByteDance has been expanding into areas such as e-commerce but has started to retreat from a four-year foray into mainstream video games with a plan to wind down its Nuverse gaming brand, Reuters reported last month.

Buybacks allow employees to cash in shares without waiting for the company to list on the stock market. An initial public offering for ByteDance has been highly anticipated for years, but the company has said since 2021 that it had no imminent plans amid Beijing's heightened scrutiny of China's technology giants.