Alongside Microsoft, Oracle is also reportedly eyeing TikTok’s US business as the beleaguered Chinese owner of the popular video-sharing app is looking to sell off its US operations following an ultimatum by the US government.
According to FT, Larry Ellison’s company has already held preliminary talks with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and is working with venture capital firms, General Atlantic and Sequoia, to generate the funds to acquire the app’s operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The news comes just a couple of weeks after Microsoft revealed its plans to acquire TikTok’s US operations. The Redmond giant has also reportedly shown interest in buying the app’s India operations, although, there’s no confirmation on that front just yet. Meanwhile, recent reports suggest that Reliance Industries is also considering buying TikTok’s India operations, but neither party has confirmed it yet.
There’s no more information on the subject at this point, but an offer from Oracle would present Microsoft with a competitor, which might jack up the price of the social networking app. As it is, TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, became the world’s most valuable startup in 2018, with its prized possession believed to be worth in the billions.
In case you don’t know it already, TikTok is facing headwinds in its two largest markets – India and the US. While the former has already banned the app as part of a larger crackdown on Chinese apps and services, the US president has threatened similar action if ByteDance doesn’t sell-off the US operations of the app to a US-based owner by September 15.
