Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - According to a company memo sent to investors on Friday and seen by Reuters, ByteDance will spend up to $...
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| Image: Reuters |
A person with direct knowledge of the plan said that the main goal of the move is to help some of the company's shareholders improve their liquidity.
Sources say that ByteDance looked into doing an IPO in Hong Kong, but the company said in April of last year that it had no plans to do so soon.
The company's board will present the proposal to its shareholders at the end of this month. Each share is worth about $176.9, so the buyback is expected to happen in the next two to three months, a person with direct knowledge said.
The company was worth $300 billion or less in recent trades on the secondary market for private equity, the person and another source said.
On the secondary market last year, the company was worth between $300 billion and $400 billion. CB Insights says that even at $300 billion, it is still one of the most valuable private companies in the world.
The sources didn't want to be named because the information was private.
Slower economic growth, which is mostly caused by COVID limits, and Beijing's crackdown on the tech sector have made it harder for many Chinese internet companies to make money.
Last month, the company cut the price of stock options for employees by 20% compared to its plan for 2021.
In 2021, revenue growth slowed to 70% from more than 100% the year before.
