(Yicai Global) June 1 -- ByteDance has denied a rumor claiming the TikTok owner has reached a deal to buy 99Bill, the third-party payments provider of cash-strapped Chinese real estate developer Dalian Wanda Group.

ByteDance has only held preliminary talks with Wanda about the acquisition of 99Bill, the Beijing-based firm said yesterday.

After Bloomberg News reported that Wanda was in talks with potential buyers, including ByteDance, over the sale of its digital payments license for about CNY1 billion (USD144 million), online rumors started to spread on Chinese social media that ByteDance had closed a deal.

The rumors also claimed that ByteDance was planning to obtain the national operating right for an offline bank card payment license.

Founded in 2004, 99Bill provides fintech services, including payments, customized industrial solutions, financial cloud, and value-added business to companies and individuals. It was granted the payments license in 2011, becoming one of the first licensed payment sites along with Ant Group's Alipay.

Editor: Futura Costaglione