China's ByteDance said today that TikTok Global will launch a public offering of shares to improve the corporate governance structure and transparency for the companythat will control the video platform's U.S. operations, Reuters reports. ByteDance said in a statement TikTok Global will also conduct a pre-IPO round that will leave ByteDance with an 80 percent stake in the company. The firm said TikTok Global's board of directors includes ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming as well as Walmart's chief executive and current directors ofByteDance. The current plan for TikTok Global does not involve any transfer of algorithms or technologies and Oracle Corp has security access to TikTok U.S.'s source code, ByteDance said. ByteDance also said a US$5 billion payment reportedly to be made to the U.S. Treasury by TikTok Global is based on estimated income and other taxes the company will need to pay over the next few years and has nothing to do with the deal reached withOracle and Walmart.

Source: The Standard September 21, 2020 01:41 UTC