- US retailer Walmart said it was joining Microsoft in buying US assets of video-sharing app TikTok.
US retailer Walmart said it was joining Microsoft in buying US assets of video-sharing app TikTok. ByteDance, which runs the app, plans to hold exclusive talks in the next 24 to 48 hours with a bidder and ink a deal by Sept. 15, according to a Reuters report citing people who are familiar with the matter.
Walmart lauded the incorporation of e-commerce and advertising capabilities into other markets by TikTok and said a three-way partnership would bring it to the US. The deal will help Walmart attract consumers through the networks of virtual and physical sales, as well as expand its online platform and advertising.
“We are optimistic that a collaboration between Walmart and Microsoft will meet all US TikTok users ‘ needs while meeting the concerns of US government regulators,” Walmart said in a statement.
Zhang Yiming, the founder and CEO of ByteDance, said in a separate letter that the company was “moving rapidly to find solutions to the issues we face globally, especially in the USA and India.”
The change comes shortly after Kevin Mayer, CEO of TikTok, left the firm just three months after he took on the job.
US President Donald Trump released an executive order banning US transactions with TikTok earlier this month. He later released a separate order that would give ByteDance 90 days to divest US operations and data from TikTok.
The letter also indicated the need to split up TikTok’s global operations. US President Donald Trump had released an Executive Order earlier that gave the company 45 days to either sell its business to a US company or be forbidden to operate in the country.
For weeks Microsoft has been in negotiations to buy the company of TikTok in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Other firms, including Oracle Corp. and Twitter Inc, have also emerged as possible bidders.
TikTok’s has run into problems with the government in two of its main markets.
Recently, 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.
