Bytedance Ltd., one of China's most valuable startup, has bagged a US$1.335 billion syndicated loan from a group dominated by the Wall Street banks.
- This deal marks Bytedance's first in the syndicated loan market and underscores its growing clout in attracting some of the biggest global lenders.
- Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs led this deal, alongside Bank of China and CMB Wing Lung Bank. Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, UBS, China Everbright Bank, and China Merchants Bank.
- At the later part of last year, the company received a US$3 billion funding from SoftBank Group Corp. and other investors at a valuation of US$75 billion, securing its position as the world's biggest privately-backed startup.
- TikTok and Douyin are two of the fastest-growing apps in the world which rely on users to record clips typically set to music. The TikTok app has been installed for over 1 billion times via the App Store and Google Play.
- This deal is also a rare case of a budding startup winning a loan of this scale from Asia's syndicated loan market, where banks are typically more comfortable with lending to mature brick-and-mortar businesses.
