Bytedance Ltd., an internet technology company and China’s most valuable startup, has secured a $1.3 billion syndicated loan in a deal led by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group, alongside Bank of China and CMB Wing Lung Bank, reported Bloomberg.
The deal marks Bytedance’s debut in the syndicated loan market and underscores its growing clout in attracting some of the biggest international lenders. Late last year, the company got $3 billion in funding from SoftBank Group Corp. and other major investors, taking its position as the world’s biggest privately-backed startup.
Bytedance was founded in 2012, for such a young startup to win a loan of this size from Asia’s syndicated loan market is rare, as banks are typically more comfortable with lending to mature brick-and-mortar companies.