Oracle Has Preliminary Talks with ByteDance, Considers Buying TikTok’s US Operations

Communication Author: Huicong Yi Editor: Luke Sheehan Aug 18, 2020 11:15 PM (GMT+8)

Oracle has already been working with a group of investors in the US that already own a stake in ByteDance.

Image credit: ByteDance website.

Following technology giants Microsoft and Twitter, Oracle has entered the race and approached ByteDance to express interest in acquiring the operations of TikTok in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, according to the Financial Times. Oracle already works with a group of investors that already own a stake in ByteDance, including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital.

Previously, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring ByteDance to sell or divest TikTok's US business within 90 days. Under the latest order, ByteDance is expected to destroy all its copies of TikTok data attached to US users, and inform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) when it has destroyed all that data. 

Still, no matter whether it is Microsoft or Oracle, the deal will face a lot of uncertainties, including separating the back-end technology of TikTok from ByteDance. Also, the value of TikTok's US and global operations is still unclear.