Walmart teams up with Microsoft in TikTok bid
The US retail giant has entered the fray as Chinese owner ByteDance faces pressure to sell the app from the Trump administration.
Friday 28 August 2020 09:31, UK
Walmart has confirmed it is joining Microsoft in a bid for TikTok's US assets, hours after the video-sharing app's chief executive resigned.
Chinese owner ByteDance is under pressure to sell the app's US operations from the Trump administration, which claims it poses a national security risk.
Kevin Mayer, TikTok's chief executive, quit on Thursday after less than three months in the job citing the "political environment".
Reports on Thursday suggested that ByteDance was aiming to enter exclusive talks with a bidder in the coming 24 to 48 hours, with US tech firms Microsoft and Oracle in the race.
It is said to be looking to sell TikTok's North American, Australian and New Zealand operations for an estimated $25-30bn.
Walmart - the US retail giant whose global business includes Britain's Asda supermarket chain - has now entered the fray as part of a potential partnership with Microsoft.
The company cited TikTok's integration of e-commerce and advertising capabilities and suggested such a deal could help it reach more customers and grow its online marketplace.
"We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators," Walmart said.
Its shares rose more than 4% on the announcement.
The White House has demanded that ByteDance sell TikTok's US operations.
Mr Trump has also issued an executive order effectively banning it in the US. The video app this week launched a legal action challenging the order.
The administration sees a risk in the amount of data on US consumers compiled by the Chinese owned business.
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TikTok boss Mr Mayer was a leading executive at Disney before taking over at TikTok on 1 June.
The video app has become a worldwide sensation since it was launched in 2017 and in April it hit two billion downloads globally.