Private Equity

PE Fund Investments

Ontario Teachers Pension acquires China's ByteDance stake in VerSe for $102-M

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Chinese internet conglomerate ByteDance has exited its investment in unicorn VerSe Innovation (the parent company of Dailyhunt and Josh) through a secondary sale to Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). ByteDance sold its shares in VerSe for about USD 102 million as part of the USD 805 million raised by VerSe in April, 2022, led by CPPIB, OTPP, Luxor Capital, and Sumeru Ventures, valuing the company at USD 5 Billion. VerSe's short video app Josh, which was launched as a competitor to TikTok, claims to have 150 monthly active users (MAUs). Dailyhunt claims to have 350 million monthly users while hyperlocal video app PublicVibe claims a million daily active users.

From the Venture Intelligence PE-VC Deal Database: In Sep-16 and Apr-20, ByteDance had raised over USD 36 M in Ver Se. (Subscribers to the database can login to view the valuation, deal structuring and other transaction details.)