ByteDance reached out to investors in recent weeks, offering a price of $180.70 per share, the people said.

The current offer price is an increase of 12.9% from the per share price of $160 in their last buy back program.

The news about the valuation was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal.

ByteDance did not have any IPO plan in sight, one of the sources said, adding that the buyback program is a way to provide Bytedance with liquidity.

This is the third buy back program for investors from Bytedance, which has been conducting share buybacks since 2022.

The company in Dec 2023 offered to buyback around $5 billion worth of shares from investors at a price of $160 each, which valued the company at $268 billion.

ByteDance had been planning to carry out the buyback program regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election, another source said, declining to be identified.

ByteDance, whose global revenue grew 30% last year to $110 billion, has been facing a legal battle over its US assets.

A law signed by US President Joe Biden on April 24, gives ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell TikTok or face a ban.

The White House has said it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national-security grounds but not a ban on TikTok.

TikTok and ByteDance sued in US federal court in May, seeking to block the law signed by Biden.

Both TikTok and ByteDance declined to comment.