[ad_1]
SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) – ByteDance, the Chinese owner of the TikTok video app, will move to a larger office in Singapore’s financial district, paving the way for it to make the city-state its beachhead for the rest of Asia.
It has signed an agreement to lease three floors measuring more than 60,000 square feet (5,574 square meters) at One Raffles Quay, according to people familiar with the plan.
Bytedance’s office expansion will help the world’s most valued start-up to anchor itself in Singapore, where it plans to invest several billion dollars. The move will support Bytedance’s hiring spree as it plans to add hundreds of jobs over the next three years to the city-state, family members said.
Controlled by billionaire Zhang Yiming, the company is boosting its social media service in Asia following setbacks in India, the United Kingdom and the United States, where Chinese tech companies face increasing hostility amid security concerns.
The new office is being remodeled and employees are likely to move in in the first quarter of next year and be informed about it later this month or in November, the people said. A representative for Bytedance declined to comment.
The movement of the Chinese tech company in Singapore coincides with the plans of other tech giants. Amazon is set to move into a larger office space in the city’s financial district. Tencent Holdings is also establishing a regional headquarters in the country. Singapore is seen as an attractive base for Western and Asian companies due to its political stability, developed financial and legal system, especially as its rival Hong Kong is still grappling with the turmoil and increasing control of China.
Bytedance’s move to One Raffles Quay, which is jointly owned by Hong Kong Land Holdings, Keppel Reit and Suntec Reit, will be a boost for the office building as its main tenant, UBS Group, will move after having secured another space. office to consolidate its operations in Singapore. Bytedance now has a shared space on one of the floors of Asia Square Tower 1, which is owned by the Qatari sovereign wealth fund.
The technology company currently has more than 200 jobs in Singapore, for positions ranging from data analysts to product policy and legal advice. Some of the positions are based in the city, but will deal with issues in other Southeast Asian countries, according to their career site.
[ad_2]
