Microsoft Corp has teamed up with Walmart Inc in a contest with Oracle Corp to buy the US assets of the popular video-sharing app TikTok from China’s ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動).
Oracle and Microsoft, with its new partner, both submitted bids in a deal that could come within the week, people familiar with the deliberations said.
Walmart would also own a stake in a newly spun-off TikTok business, alongside Microsoft, the people said.
Photo: Reuters
Competing offers have been made in what augurs the closing process of a deal, although it will take longer for final details to be worked out, one person said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.
Walmart confirmed in an e-mail that it is in “partnership” with Microsoft in its pursuit of TikTok, a move to bolster the retailer’s third-party marketplace and nascent advertising arm.
A Walmart-Microsoft bid would “meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators,” Walmart said.
In China and other countries, ByteDance’s apps offer e-commerce features along with video clips, which have not been available in the US so far.
Adding Walmart to the deal would enable the retail giant to play that role for the US TikTok app, a person familiar with the planning said.
Microsoft and Walmart are already collaborating on cloud applications, brought together by mutual rivalry with Amazon.com Inc, which is the biggest cloud-infrastructure software seller, followed by Microsoft.
The White House has been pushing for a sale of TikTok’s US operations due to concerns over its ties to China and implications for national security.
Microsoft had emerged as the top contender to buy the company, announcing in a blog post earlier this month that it was in talks to acquire TikTok’s business in the US, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
Microsoft’s discussions are now centered around TikTok’s US business, narrowing the scope from its original plans to include operations in the three other countries, two people familiar with the matter said.
While ByteDance is asking about US$30 billion for TikTok in the US, bidders have not been willing to offer that amount, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the negotiations.
US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order with a mid-September deadline for TikTok to be sold to a US company or prohibit US people and companies from doing business with the app. The announcement set off a flurry of interest from other companies.
A later order required ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US assets within 90 days. It is not clear whether other parties have entered the process or plan to bid.
The departure on Wednesday of TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer, after less than three months at the company, suggests a deal is imminent. Mayer had left a long career at Walt Disney Co to join TikTok in June. Mayer’s appointment was held up as an example of how the company was distancing itself from its Chinese roots and was seen as a way to smooth relations with Washington.
“As we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company,” Mayer said in an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News.
“In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” he added.
Analysts and bankers have pegged the value of TikTok’s US business anywhere from US$20 billion to US$50 billion, a wide range that reflects the complexity involved in separating TikTok’s US and global businesses, in determining a reliable number of users, and how revenue breaks out just for the markets at stake in the deal.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
CHEMICAL FIRE: 10 Indian employees were injured by smoke inhalation at a Tata Electronics plant in Tamil Nadu state that produces components for Apple Inc At least 10 people received medical treatment, with two hospitalized after a major fire on Saturday disrupted production at a key Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd plant in southern India that makes Apple Inc’s iPhone components. The fire occurred at the plant in the city of Hosur in Tamil Nadu state that makes some iPhone components. It broke out near another building inside the Tata complex, which was to begin producing complete iPhones in the coming months. The fire was contained to one building and has been extinguished fully, top district administrative official K.M. Sarayu said. No decision has been made on when
RSS