- According to the Financial Times, Oracle has expressed an interest in purchasing TikTok, giving Microsoft a possible rival in its attempt to dominate the Chinese social video app
According to the Financial Times, Oracle has expressed an interest in purchasing TikTok, giving Microsoft a possible rival in its attempt to dominate the US Chinese social video app. The corporate tech giant Larry Ellison has reportedly already held informal talks with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, partnering with venture capital firms including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, and is “seriously considering” purchasing the business in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
On Friday, President Trump signed an executive calling requiring ByteDance to sell its US operations within 90 days. The FT states that one of the few US tech executives who publicly backed Trump is Oracle’s billionaire co-founder Ellison, although it’s not clear whether Oracle will be TikTok ‘s preferred suitor for the White House.
A deal to buy part of TikTok will be legally complex and technologically challenging. Until now, in the efforts to find an American buyer, Microsoft has been seen as the frontrunner. The FT corroborates earlier news from The Wall Street Journal that Twitter has expressed early interest, but there are apparently “significant questions” about its financial potential for the transaction. While ByteDance hasn’t publicly named a price, the success of TikTok propelled it to become the most valuable startup in the world in 2018.
They in the primary phase of evaluating the potential for investment in short-form video sharing applications at this juncture for TikTok ‘s Indian operations. The development is significant in the light of ongoing talks between a technology giant Microsoft to acquire a controlling stake in China’s global shorts before the Donald Trump administration ‘s 15 September deadline.
TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer reportedly called on top executives of the RIL in the recent past to assess the degree to which the oil to telecommunications conglomerate wants to take an interest in the app in India. Following this, it weighs whether any investment or purchase valuable at this stage is, RIL and its digital arm Jio ‘s corporate development, strategy, and M+A teams
