TikTok owner ByteDance offers to buy back shares from employees at unchanged price amid political headwinds, stalled IPO

The steady buy-back price is being offered at a time when the company’s valuation is in decline, with a recent investment valuing the company at around US$220 billion, down from a peak valuation of US$400 billion in 2021

The unchanged buy-back price interrupts an earlier streak of higher repurchase prices offered at each of the past four offers made between 2021 and 2022

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Published: 3:58pm, 17 Apr 2023

TikTok owner ByteDance has embarked on a new share option buy-back programme allowing employees to offload holdings, even as it faces intensified political backlash overseas, two people familiar with the matter told the Post.

The privately-held company’s latest stock repurchase offer of US$155 per share, which is at par with the price offered during the last round of buy-backs made in October, gives employees a chance to encash their stock options even without an initial public offering (IPO).

Chief financial officer Julie Gao told employees last August that the company had no plans to go public.

The steady buy-back price comes at a time when the company’s total valuation is in decline. A recent investment by Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence firm G42 valued ByteDance at around US$220 billion, Bloomberg News reported last month, down from a peak valuation of US$400 billion in 2021.

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This is a rare instance of the company not raising its buy-back price since it began making such offers in 2017. The programme, which traditionally takes place twice a year in April and in October, has seen a higher offer price in each of the past four rounds between 2021 and 2022.