ByteDance’s Douyin Group Establishes New “Toutiao” Firm, Adding to IPO Rumors

A new subsidiary of Chinese tech giant and TikTok owner ByteDance was established on Monday, named “Beijing Toutiao Information Technology Co., Ltd.,” with legal representative Luo Lixin and a registered capital of 1 million yuan ($148,894).

Public information shows that the company is indirectly wholly-owned by Douyin Group (HK) Limited, which was renamed from Bytedance (HK) Limited just a few days ago. The business scope of the new company includes technological services, development, and promotion, as well as advertisement design, production and release.

It is worth mentioning that several other companies under ByteDance have also recently changed their names to include “Douyin.” This has, in turn, triggered speculation in the industry that the internet giant will again initiate moves for a public listing. In this regard, a spokesman for Douyin told domestic media on May 8 that the company “refused to comment.”

SEE ALSO: ByteDance Sets Up Douyin Group, Rumored to be Listed in Hong Kong

Founded in 2021, ByteDance is one of the fastest growing internet companies in China. As of August 18, 2021, the company has completed nine rounds of financing, and the latest publicly disclosed transaction amount was in October 2018. At that time, its valuation had reached $75 billion. According to the ranking of “2021 Hurun China 500 Most Valuable Private Companies” released by the Hurun Research Institute, the valuation of ByteDance has reached 2.25 trillion yuan ($335 billion). Accordingly, media speculation regarding a potential IPO has repeatedly emerged.