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TikTok parent ByteDance plans to spend as much as $5 billion shopping for again inventory, an individual accustomed to the matter advised CNBC, as considered one of the world’s most dear startups seeks to present shareholders an opportunity to money out of their holdings.
ByteDance is providing shareholders $160 per share, which values the agency at round $268 billion, the individual stated.
There isn’t any timeline for the completion of the share repurchases, however ByteDance has requested shareholders in the event that they’d like to enroll to the program, the individual stated.
ByteDance declined to remark.
Buybacks by non-public firms are sometimes a approach for shareholders to make a return on their early investments, particularly when there isn’t a liquidity occasion like an preliminary public providing or acquisition.
The newest spherical of buybacks for shareholders comes just below a month after ByteDance offered to repurchase restricted stock units (RSU) or options from employees for the identical worth of $160 per share.
ByteDance, which was based in 2012, has been tipped to go public for the previous few years, however has confronted an rising variety of headwinds.
The Chinese giant’s hottest abroad app TikTok has confronted scrutiny from lawmakers throughout the world, in particular in the U.S., the place critics have questioned the security of American knowledge on the platform.
ByteDance is also cutting hundreds of jobs from its gaming division, the place the firm has aggressively expanded with out success.
The agency has been hit by a slowing Chinese financial system and by stricter home regulation in the web sector.