Short video app ByteDance On Wednesday, Douyin announced it had started talks with the Dalian Wanda Group for its payments unit.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Wanda was in talks to sell its digital payments license to ByteDance for roughly 1 billion yuan ($144 million). However, talks may cut the price, it added.
Douyin, China’s TikTok, declined to comment beyond confirming the preliminary negotiations. Wanda didn’t immediately answer.
Since Chinese regulators haven’t approved its Hong Kong IPO of Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group Co, Wanda has been trying to boost liquidity.
Last week, Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin, once China’s richest man, warned at an internal meeting that the IPO was struggling and that it would cease acquiring land and halt new property management projects to minimize debt in two years, sources told Reuters.
Wanda purchased its payments license from 99Bill in 2014, allowing visitors to its department stores and cinemas to pay online.
In 2021, ByteDance established a third-party payment solution for Douyin after securing another payment license.