ByteDance not in preliminary talks to list TikTok on NYSE: source
10:25 pm Tuesday, February 16th, 2021
(Reuters) – ByteDance is not in preliminary discussions about listing video app TikTok on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), a person familiar with the matter said, following a Chinese media report that talks were underway.
The Global Times, published by China’s ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily newspaper, said earlier on its Twitter account that ByteDance was in preliminary talks about a NYSE listing. Shortly after, it tweeted that ByteDance had denied the report.
No such talks were being held, said the source, who declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.
ByteDance, which owns the video app, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment about the matter.
Under pressure from the Trump administration, ByteDance has been in talks for months to finalize a deal to shift TikTok’s American assets into a new entity to address U.S. security concerns. Those talks have continued since Biden took office in January, sources have said.
The White House has said it has an ongoing review of potential risks posed by TikTok on U.S. data. The U.S. Justice Department asked two federal appeals courts earlier this month to put on hold government appeals on lower courts’ rulings blocking restrictions the Trump administration sought against the app.
Two people briefed on the matter told Reuters earlier this month a plan for investors over the TikTok deal could drag on for months amid the administration’s review.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru and Echo Wang in Miami; Editing by Richard Pullin)
