Chinese video giant ByteDance plans to sell its securities-related businesses at a price between RMB 500 million ($77.4 million) to RMB 1 billion, Chinese media LatePost reported Wednesday.
Why it matters: ByteDance’s ventures into the securities sector have received a lukewarm market response since the launch of the Dolphin Stock information platform in October 2017. According to the report, some analysts think ByteDance, owner of TikTok, is getting out of the sector in response to stepped-up regulatory pressure on private fintech services in China.
Details: A ByteDance spokesperson confirmed the plan with TechNode and said it is cutting back on financial services.
- Since earlier this year, ByteDance has discussed a sale with several financial institutions, including CICC, Citic, Fosun Group, East Money, and Niuguwang. Two of the firms have submitted an investment proposal, the report said.
- Besides Dolphin Stock, ByteDance’s main subsidiary up for sale is brokerage Squirrel Securities. ByteDance had been planning to launch a second brokerage, Stellar Securities.