ByteDance Denies Reports of a Hong Kong Listing Plan

What’s new: ByteDance Ltd., the owner of short-video sensation TikTok, denied a report that said it had revived its plans for an IPO with a potential listing in Hong Kong.

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the Beijing-based company was planning to list in either the fourth quarter of this year or early 2022, citing three unidentified sources with knowledge of the matter.

The report added that ByteDance “has spent the past few months addressing Chinese regulators’ data security concerns.”

However, a company spokesperson told Caixin on Monday that the report “is not correct,” without elaborating further.

The background: In mid-April, people close to the company told Caixin that ByteDance had chosen Hong Kong over the U.S. for a listing and would file its prospectus in the second quarter.

That followed a new appointment in March, when the company tapped smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp.’s international business president Chew Shou Zi as its chief financial officer. Chew previously oversaw Xiaomi’s Hong Kong IPO in 2018. Chew was later appointed TikTok’s CEO in May.

On April 23, ByteDance responded to the months of speculation by saying it had no imminent plans for an IPO, following a “thorough study” that showed the “company currently doesn’t meet the conditions for a public listing.”

Chinese regulators have been conducting reviews into data-rich platforms in different sectors, starting with investigations into Didi Global Inc., truck-booking platform Manbang Group and the operator of recruitment platform Boss Zhipin, all of which had recently listed in the U.S.

Last month, the Cybersecurity Administration of China announced a new draft revision to its cybersecurity review measures, saying that any Chinese company that holds the personal information of 1 million or more users would have to seek a government review before listing abroad.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use.

Contact reporter Kelsey Cheng (kelseycheng@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)

Download our app to receive breaking news alerts and read the news on the go.

Get our weekly free Must-Read newsletter.