TikTok owner ByteDance increases price of share buyback for staff

BEIJING: TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance is initiating a second share buyback for employees this year at a higher price than the previous one, in a bid to motivate employees amid slowing growth and uncertainty over a plan to go public, two sources said.

They said ByteDance told employees in an email that those eligible can apply to cash out their Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), ByteDance's stock option programme. It offered US$155 per unit, up from the US$142 price set in the buyback earlier this year, they said.

The higher price is aimed at motivating employees by helping them monetise their holdings, the sources said, declining to be named as the information was confidential.

ByteDance, which has around 10,000 employees globally, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It could not be immediately determined how much of the company is owned by employees or how much ByteDance has set aside for the buyback.

One of the world's most valuable private tech companies, it has launched various incentive plans this year including stock option granting programmes at a lower price amid slowing revenue growth, which fell to 70 per cent last year from more than 100 per cent a year earlier.

The economic slowdown in China, much of which is due to stringent COVID-19 curbs, and Beijing's regulatory crackdown on the tech sector have crimped earnings as well as valuation prospects for many Chinese tech firms.

The 10-year-old company usually launches stock option buybacks twice a year for employees, separate sources have said.

ByteDance had explored conducting an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, different sources have told Reuters.

But earlier this year, chief financial officer Julie Gao told employees at an internal meeting that the company had no timeline for an IPO, according to people who attended the meeting.

The unlisted company was valued at around US$300 billion recently, or roughly US$170 per share, in the private-equity secondary market, down from a peak of around US$400 billion reached last year, sources have said.

The company also launched a share buyback last month that will see it spend up to US$3 billion in repurchasing shares from its investors, which valued the company at up to US$300 billion.