BYTEDANCE is in talks about a possible offshore listing of its short video app Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, in New York or Hong Kong, two people familiar with the matter said.

The TikTok owner’s exploration of an initial public offering (IPO) of Douyin in New York has emerged recently, according to the people. ByteDance earlier considered a standalone IPO for Douyin in Hong Kong, Reuters reported in October.

The company had also been considering listing some of its domestic businesses, including news aggregator Toutiao, in Hong Kong or on Shanghai’s STAR market.

Beijing-based ByteDance was one of the candidates that regulators courted for years for a potential stock market debut on Nasdaq-style STAR Market, separate sources said.

ByteDance two weeks ago hired former Xiaomi executive Shou Zi Chew for a newly-created chief financial officer role, seen as a sign an IPO could be nearer.

The company’s valuation in private trades has risen rapidly along with the market’s expectations of an IPO.

A year ago, ByteDance granted employees shares that valued the firm at US$100 billion. Three weeks ago, its valuation rose to US$270 billion. Two weeks ago, the figure jumped to US$300 billion, according to ByteDance’s employees. (SD-Agencies)