Abu Dhabi’s G42 acquires stake in TikTok proprietor ByteDance

Abu Dhabi funding agency Group 42 (G42) which is managed by Arab Emirates royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan  has acquired a $100 million stake in Chinese language web firm ByteDance, proprietor of the social media app TikTok, from current buyers at a valuation of $220 billion.

ByteDance Ltd. was valued at round $220 billion in a latest private-market funding by Abu Dhabi AI agency G42, a big low cost to the $300 billion that TikTok’s proprietor set throughout a latest share buyback program.

The Center Japanese agency could also be betting on ByteDance’s longer-term potential, as a rebounding Chinese language economic system buttresses tech giants rising from three years of Covid restrictions and countless regulatory crackdowns. 

ByteDance, which gained a foothold within the US by shopping for TikTok’s predecessor, is certainly one of a handful of Chinese language app builders to have hit the large time overseas. That choose membership consists of upstarts like fast-fashion purveyor Shein Group, AliExpress and PDD Holdings Inc.’s bargains app Temu. 

ByteDance’s marquee service drew advertisers eager on hitting a younger demographic. And it’s craved out a distinct segment promoting items to hundreds of thousands of social media customers through reside streams the world over. 

That reputation spooked some in Washington. The White Home endorsed a bipartisan invoice final week that might grant the president authority to ban or pressure a sale of TikTok — which might deal a significant blow to the Chinese language agency’s worldwide ambitions. 

A ByteDance IPO — the corporate has explored choices together with Hong Kong and the US — stays a methods off, given international market volatility. In September final 12 months, the Beijing firm provided to purchase again $3 billion of its personal shares at a valuation of about $300 billion, providing a method for current backers similar to Susquehanna Worldwide Group and Sequoia Capital to money in a few of their good points.

ByteDance, which can be backed by SoftBank Group Corp. and Temasek Holdings Pte, isn’t in pressing want of money after TikTok alone generated an estimated $12 billion of income in 2022. 

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