TikTok owner ByteDance to trim stake in Chinese mobile reading platform IReader
- This is the third time that the TikTok owner is cutting back its holdings in one of China’s most popular mobile reading platforms
- ByteDance bought a roughly 11 per cent stake in IReader in 2020 and announced collaborations in content creation
Chinese short-video giant ByteDance is selling about 4.38 million shares in digital reading platform operator IReader Technology, a stake worth about 106 million yuan (US$14.9 million) based on closing share prices on Thursday.
The sale will be carried out over three months by Beijing Liangzi Yuedong Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ByteDance, IReader said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
This is the third time that ByteDance, which currently owns around 7.5 per cent of IReader, is cutting back its holdings in one of China’s most popular mobile reading platforms, after it bought a roughly 11 per cent stake for 1.1 billion yuan in 2020.
Back then, the two firms said they would be working closely in areas from the co-development of intellectual properties and content creation to marketing and advertising.
ByteDance reduced its stake to around 10 per cent in March this year, followed by another sale in April.
After the latest transaction, the Beijing-based company’s stake in IReader will be just around 6.5 per cent.