ByteDance Closed Its Pre-IPO with an Estimated Valuation of $75 Billion

Beijing Bytedance Technology Co., the parent company of China’s news platform Toutiao and short video app TikTok, has closed its pre-IPO raising with about $4 billion, according to 36Kr. With an estimated valuation of $75 billion, it has become the rage in the market.

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“It might not be valued as high as $75 billion,” an insider told the 36Kr reporter. However, another reporter claimed, “Very probable that it’s $75 billion.” Discrepancies do exist as the fundraising amount is subtle to change with responses from the market.

The company refused to comment on 36 Kr’s report. And the final valuation remains unclear.

The leading investors including Softbank China Venture Capital, Primavera Capital Group, and KKR & Co. Inc. haven’t made an official response yet either. “They must have invested,” sources told 36Kr.

Although winter is coming, ByteDance has attracted lots of investors.

“The shares are in high demand. Companies that are not as well known can’t even hope to get their hands on them,” an investor who was trying to get involved told 36Kr.

The number of monthly active users of TikTok has reached 0.3 billion, in which half are daily active users, surpassing that of Alibaba, the e-commerce giant and only second to Tencent, another Internet giant. Market participants estimated that TikTok’s value approached $30 billion, which accounts for most of ByteDance’s valuation.

Apart from TikTok, other main products by ByteDance such as Toutiao news, Xigua videos, and live stream platform Huoshan are also generating new products to bring profits to the company.

This round of equity financing began in August, when it was valued at $75 billion at the beginning. The company is planning to go public next year, according to Financial Times.