ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, reportedly scrapped plans for an overseas listing after government officials asked the company to focus on data security risks.
The Beijing-based tech giant had been weighing an initial public offering of some or all of its businesses in the U.S. or Hong Kong, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming decided it would be best to postpone the planned IPO indefinitely to the end of March after meetings with securities and cyberspace regulators who told the company to address data security and other issues, according to the Journal.
ByteDance had other reasons for delaying the listing, including the fact that it did not have a CFO at the time, the Journal reported. ByteDance hired Shou Zi Chew, a former executive at Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, as its chief financial officer in March, fueling speculation about a possible initial public offering.
“We do not comment on rumors or speculation,” a ByteDance spokesperson told CNBC. In April, the company said it had no immediate plans to go public.
The news comes after Chinese regulators released a cybersecurity review on local ride-sharing service Didi, listed on the New York Stock Exchange last month. Beijing has been stepping up its regulatory scrutiny of US-listed Chinese companies of late.
To learn more about ByteDance’s archived IPO plans, you can read the full Journal story here.
