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- TikTok’s owner ByteDance held off on offshore IPO plans after talks with Chinese officials, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- ByteDance’s founder indefinitely shelved the plans in March.
- China launched a security review of Didi two days after the ride-hailing app went public in the US in June.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
ByteDance, the Chinese company that runs the popular short-form video app TikTok, will hold off on plans for an offshore listing after Beijing authorities told the company to address data-security risks, according to The Wall Street Journal.
ByteDance made the decision in March to postpone its intentions of offering all or a portion of its businesses in the US or Hong Kong, the report published Monday said, citing sources familiar with the matter. The company was valued at $180 billion in a round of funding in December.
The report follows cybersecurity reviews of ride-hailing service Didi and on two other companies by Chinese regulators shortly after shares of those companies began trading in the US. China has been clamping down on technology companies over a range of issues including security and privacy and potentially anti-competitive behavior.
ByteDance’s founder, Zhang Yiming, decided to indefinitely shelve the IPO plans after meeting with cyberspace and securities regulators about focusing on risks related to data security and other items, WSJ reported.
Beijing has concerns that data collected by tech companies in the country could be compromised through disclosures linked to U.S. listings. Chinese authorities, meanwhile, are considering a rule change that would allow them to stop domestic firms from listing publicly in overseas markets, according to a Bloomberg report last week. The loophole has previously been used by Chinese tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent to launch IPO in the US.
Didi on Monday warned of a likely hit to its revenue after a regulator ordered the removal of 25 apps from online stores, Reuters reported. The Cyberspace Administration of China last week said Didi was in violation of data-gathering rules. Didi’s stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on June 30 and the cybersecurity review was announced two days later. The shares have lost roughly 20% since then and were pressure during Monday’s session.