Oracle enters the competition to purchase TikTok’s US business, says FT report
- On Friday US President Donald Trump ordered ByteDance to divest the US operations of its video-sharing app TikTok within 90 days
- Securing a sale is easier said than done due to a complex array of legal and technical obstacles
Oracle has expressed an interest in purchasing TikTok’s US business, competing with Microsoft in a race to acquire the popular Chinese-owned short video app, the Financial Times reported, citing people briefed about the matter.
Oracle has held preliminary talks with TikTok owner ByteDance, and was seriously considering purchasing the app’s business in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the FT report said. The company was also working with Bytedance’s US investors such as General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, according to the report.
A phone call to Oracle’s Beijing office seeking comment was not answered immediately. Bytedance and TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by email.
On Friday US President Donald Trump ordered ByteDance to divest the US operations of its video-sharing app TikTok within 90 days. Microsoft has emerged as a front-runner to buy the US operation, while media reports suggest a number of others have joined the fray, including Twitter.
However, Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates has warned against the deal.
“Who knows what’s going to happen with that deal,” Gates said in a recent interview with Wired. “But yes, it’s a poison[ed] chalice.”