The best part is what happens when they cannot refinance anymore. There is a wall in front of the car, but speeding is fun, so why not accelerate a bit more.
>The best part is what happens when they cannot refinance anymore.
they'll 'exit' before that by IPO
ByteDance is barred from IPO'ing internationally and possibly domestically as well. They wanted to and the CCP would not allow it, they capitulated and backed off their IPO plans (Didi by contrast went forward against the wishes of the CCP, and now Didi is being dismantled and nationalized in response). It's part of the new cultural revolution going on in China, they're restricting prominent companies more aggressively, for purposes of control, and that includes how and when they're allowed to IPO.
It’s about control, of course, but someone will end up with control (as always happens in a power vacuum). The decision is whether you want your government in control or enormously powerful corporations. China picked the former, other countries picked the latter.
HK IPO
They made $37bn revenue and $684m profit (presumably post-debt-payments) last year, so I don't think that line of credit will be terribly challenging for them to repay.
Less than a billion profit from 37 billion revenue? Isn't that too low for internet company?