ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, has gained a 15% stake in Shanxi Lanxiong Hotpot Supermarket Management Company, becoming the fourth largest shareholder, via its subsidiary called Beijing Liangzi Yuedong Technology Company Limited, 36Kr reported on Thursday, citing corporate registration information changes.
Further financial details on this deal were not available.
Lanxiong was founded in 2007 in Taiyuan, capital of northern China’s Shanxi province. The company runs brick-and-mortar supermarkets mainly in northern China, which sell raw ingredients, including vegetables and meat balls, to make hotpot, according to 36Kr.
It is not known why ByteDance invested in Lanxiong, since the company is mostly known in China for its news aggregator Jinri Toutiao and short video app Douyin, which is similar to TikTok used outside the Chinese mainland. ByteDance has been venturing into a lot sectors such as the automotive, cloud computing, education and gaming.
36Kr is KrASIA’s parent company
This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.