TikTok Owner Looks to Sell Stake in $10B Sneaker Resale Platform

ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, is considering selling a minority stake in Poizon, an online fashion marketplace for sneakers and apparel, according to Bloomberg. 

The Beijing-based company is looking to offload a stake in Poizon, which has roughly 100 million monthly active users, as it downsizes its business operations, particularly its investment arm and VC team. ByteDance anticipates a crackdown by Chinese regulators on tech companies. 

• Poizon is valued at more than $10 billion.
• A sale would be for a stake less than 10%.
• ByteDance prefers to sell the minority stake to an existing investor.
• No deal is imminent, as ByteDance may decide to keep the stake. 

ByteDance, which is privately held, was looking to go public last year in the U.S. or Hong Kong but scrapped its plan for an IPO after Chinese regulators asked the company to address data security risks and other issues. As of April, ByteDance is reportedly valued at $140 billion. 

Growing Tension 

ByteDance’s plans to sell a portion of Poizon come amid tension within the sneaker resale market. 

In February, Nike sued resale platform StockX over NFTs, accusing the latter of trademark infringement when some of the NFTs included Nike shoes. Two months later, Nike claimed it purchased four pairs of counterfeit shoes from StockX — including one matching an NFT.

Earlier this week, StockX, which reached a $3.8 billion valuation in 2021, filed a response to the lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in New York claiming Nike’s allegations “lack merit.”