ByteDance lined up a $29.6 billion loan across nearly 30 banks, up from the $20 billion it originally sought, after demand from lenders overshot the target, according to Reuters. Citigroup and JPMorgan coordinated the three-year facility, which carries options to extend two more years, and Chinese banks took more than 60% of it, with US, European, and Singaporean lenders on the rest. The loan is unsecured, meaning ByteDance pledged no assets or shares against it, and one of the people involved said the banks are effectively lending on the company’s name. ByteDance told lenders the money was for general corporate purposes, though the sources said it will mostly fund AI work outside China, where the company has contracted to buy capacity from data centers going up in Southeast Asia.
