China’s ByteDance, the parent company of popular short video app TikTok, is offering to repurchase shares from its employees outside of the United States for $160 per share, according to a source familiar with the matter. This plan has been confirmed by the company.
The price being offered for each restricted stock unit is consistent with the offer made to current and former U.S. employees in October. In that offer, ByteDance aimed to buy back at least $300 million worth of stock at $160 per share. However, this valuation represents a 26% decrease compared to the company’s value a year earlier, which was $223.5 billion. During a buyback program for non-U.S. employees last year, ByteDance was valued at $300 billion.
It is worth noting that the current $160 price is higher than the $155 price set in a previous buyback conducted in April. A spokesperson for ByteDance has confirmed the share buyback plan for employees outside of the U.S., stating that the aim is to provide liquidity options for staff through such programs. The company has been offering buyback programs twice a year to eligible current and former employees since 2017.
These buybacks allow employees to sell their shares without having to wait for the company to go public on the stock market. Although an initial public offering for ByteDance has been eagerly anticipated for years, the company stated in 2021 that it had no immediate plans for an IPO due to increased scrutiny of China’s technology giants by the Beijing government.
The offer to repurchase shares from employees outside the U.S. comes as ByteDance continues to navigate challenges in the global market. By providing liquidity options for its staff, the company aims to retain and motivate its workforce while delaying its IPO plans in response to regulatory pressures.
Reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Josh Ye in Hong Kong; Editing by Mark Potter.
