ByteDance secures $29.6 billion loan, Asia's second-largest this year

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ByteDance Ltd., the developer of TikTok, has secured a $29.6 billion loan, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal is Asia's second-largest dollar-denominated borrowing this year. The company increased the facility from an initial $20 billion after strong commitments from banks.
Key Facts
- ByteDance Ltd. secured a $29.6 billion loan, Asia's second-largest dollar-denominated borrowing this year.
- The company originally sought a $20 billion facility but increased the size after strong bank commitments.
- ByteDance is considering boosting capital spending to as much as $70 billion this year, more than double last year's total.
- The loan carries an opening margin of 68 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate.
- Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are the coordinators of the financing, which has a tenor of three years and can be extended to five years.
Loan Details
ByteDance Ltd., the developer of TikTok, has secured a $29.6 billion loan, according to people familiar with the matter. The Chinese tech giant was originally seeking a $20 billion facility but increased the size after gathering strong commitments from banks. Proceeds will be used mainly for general corporate purposes. The deal has not yet been signed, as banks are still in the process of signing back to confirm their allocations.
AI Investment Push
Beijing-based ByteDance has been rushing to build up its AI capabilities as industry peers pour money into related projects. The company is considering boosting capital spending to as much as $70 billion this year, more than double last year's total, to expand its data centers and other AI infrastructure. Four US hyperscalers — Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. — are also planning capital spending sprees of as much as $725 billion this year, largely focused on AI data center equipment.
Market Context
The only dollar-denominated loan deal in the region this year larger than ByteDance's facility was SoftBank Group Corp.'s $40 billion bridge loan signed in March. ByteDance's jumbo loan carries one of the lowest margins for such borrowings among Chinese tech firms. The opening margin for the loan is 68 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, which will adjust if it extends the tenor. Its previous offshore loan carried a margin of 85 basis points over SOFR. ByteDance's loan deal attracted more than $30 billion of orders before the commitment deadline, showing strong interest from lenders.