Bytedance moves into iconic Hong Kong tower as banks depart

BYTEDANCE is shifting to a bigger office at one of Hong Kong’s most prestigious locations, taking a major step to expand its presence in the financial hub after a year of cautious global expansion.

The world’s most valuable tech startup has rented space in International Finance Centre (IFC) in Central, a company spokesperson said. TikTok’s owner previously set up a temporary base in a Hong Kong co-working space to house dozens of employees in legal and finance.

ByteDance’s lease will cover 20,000 square feet, valued at HK$120 (S$20.36) per square foot, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported, citing unidentified people in the market. The space is about as large as one-third of an average football field.

The company’s revenue surged more than 30 per cent to surpass US$80 billion in 2022, it told investors in a recent memo, matching the tally at Tencent Holdings.

Its move into the iconic waterfront tower in the centre of Hong Kong comes as foreign banks scale back to trim costs.

Firms including BNP Paribas and Julius Baer Group have given up space in IFC in recent years. CBRE Group said that dwindling demand from multinationals and growing supply have weighed on commercial property, potentially causing rents for premium offices to fall as much as 5 per cent in 2023.

The office expansion will grant ByteDance an anchor in the Asian finance hub, a favoured place for Chinese tech listings after Beijing’s intensifying scrutiny on data security. The company last year hired Skadden lawyer Julie Gao as its chief financial officer, who works out of its offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.

ByteDance in past years had thought about listing domestic assets including TikTok’s twin Douyin in Hong Kong, while pursuing a separate TikTok listing overseas. But those plans are in limbo, as the company deals with regulatory issues in the US and at home. Washington is threatening to join India in banning TikTok, which a growing number of government agencies are wiping from official phones.

ByteDance joined Alibaba Group and Tencent in implementing unprecedented cost curbs after more than a year of Chinese regulatory crackdowns and Covid restrictions. The startup curtailed some of its riskier projects, including in gaming and venture investment.

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But short video has proven lucrative and remains its biggest cash cow, as its services evolved to incorporate built-in purchases, online meal delivery and grocery features. TikTok and its Chinese cousin, Douyin, are syphoning ad dollars from other social media platforms, because cost-conscious marketers are shifting towards faster-growing online services.

TikTok has amassed more than 150 million monthly users in the US, spurring concerns about China’s access to the data it gathers. TikTok chief executive officer Chew Shou Zi last month sat through a hostile four-and-a-half-hour congressional hearing, during which he did little to sway some of his employer’s loudest critics. BLOOMBERG