Bytedance, the owner of news app Toutiao, has acquired China-based social video app developer Musical.ly, giving an exit to mobile app developer Cheetah Mobile, Bloomberg reported today.
Bloomberg cited people familiar with the deal for its size, shortly after TechCrunch had reported that undisclosed sources had told it that Bytedance had agreed to pay between $800m and $1bn.
Musical.ly has created a short-form, music-based social video app aimed at a millennial user base. Users upload a 15-second clip of themselves lip synching or engaging in some other activity accompanied by a popular song.
The platform, which also includes a livestreaming feature, has accumulated more than 60 million registered users, many of which are situated in the US, and will continue to operate independently post-acquisition.
Although Musical.ly has not publicly disclosed details of its funding, Bloomberg stated Cheetah Mobile was one of its backers. Legend Capital, the VC firm formed by conglomerate Legend Holdings, lists Musical.ly as a portfolio company on its website, without providing information on when it invested.
TechCrunch reported in May 2016 that Musical.ly was raising $100m in a round featuring GGV Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Greylock Partners and DCM at a $500m valuation, after GGV and Greylock had provided it with funding the previous year.
News of the acquisition emerged two days after Bytedance agreed to acquire news aggregator News Republic from Cheetah Mobile for $86.6m, as part of a strategic cooperation framework agreement.