- Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-controlled reliance industrials (RIL) are in the primary phase of talks to take control of TikTok & it’s India operations.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-controlled reliance industrials (RIL) are in the primary phase of talks to take control of TikTok & it’s India operations, reported Techcrunch.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-controlled reliance industrials (RIL) are stated to be 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, informed ET. “Both sides are in close contact,” an official told the Finance Newspaper.
But RIL refused to comment on the so-called “rumors and speculation.” “Our company constantly explores different opportunities. Following our Sebi obligations and our stock trading agreements, we have made and continue to make required divulgations, “said the RIL speaker.
Reliable sources said negotiations are at an early stage, and it is unlikely that the agreement will materialize, as there are several obstacles. India is the largest market for TikTok, with over 650 million downloads, according to Sensor Tower numbers.
The China-based parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, is under massive global political pressure on security issues and policies for data sharing. India banned in June 59 Chinese-linked applications, including TikTok, citing concerns about country privacy and national security. The penalty affected 200 million registered users of the app in India.
The oil-to-retail giant Reliance, India’s most precious company, may help invest in TikTok to create deeper customer relationships. The Telecom firm Jio Platforms runs Reliance.
While in less than four years, Jio Platforms has accrued almost 400 million users in India, its consumer-facing devices have failed to make this call repeat.
The publication listed in this report, which cites a non-named executive close to RIL, would most likely wait until Tik-Tok’s price falls further and then decides “strategically” rather than “rescuing a Chinese brand.”
ByteDance has told its employees that it is in talks with the Indian government and does not intend to lay employees in the country to address the concerns of New Delhi.
The Windows-manufacturer stated earlier this month that ByteDance is separately dedicated to Microsoft for its company in different markets, including the U.S. Last week, Financial Times reported that both companies had expanded the agreement into other markets, including Europe and India, which included businesses in TikTok.
Any contract with Reliance — owned by Indian Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s richer Mukesh Ambani — could help ByteDance mitigate Indian government concerns.
With local startups such as Chingari, Mitron, Times Internet-backed MX Takatak, Roposo trying to leverage the consumer base of TikTok, it will be interesting to see how this competition shapes up when TikTok comes back with backing of RIL.
