CFP
AsianFin -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was in negotiations with four potential purchasers for TikTok's US operations and that a deal for the social video app could be reached "soon."
"We're engaging with four different groups, and there's significant interest," Trump informed reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. He didn't disclose the identities of the contenders or indicate his preference, simply stating that "all four are good."
TikTok, owned 100% by Beijing-based ByteDance, has a deadline of April 5 to finalize a deal for its US operation. Otherwise, it will be prohibited from the country under a bipartisan law passed during the Biden administration. The US is by far its most crucial market—ByteDance operates a sister service, Douyin, in China—and TikTok US was valued at up to $50 billion last year.
Last week, Trump said that he would be open to extending the deadline again if necessary but believed a deal could be achieved within the next month. He had already postponed the initial Jan. 19 deadline, preventing a long-term TikTok blackout, and has repeatedly indicated his willingness to broker a deal. As he attempts to facilitate a sale, the president has stated that he believes the US should be granted a 50% stake in the company as a condition.
ByteDance has shown no indication of interest in divesting its US operations, although Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December and attended the inauguration earlier this year. The company has made efforts to address national security concerns among US lawmakers to continue operating in the country.
Privately-held ByteDance is currently valued at over $400 billion by major investors like SoftBank. The company is repurchasing employee shares at a $312 billion valuation, demonstrating confidence in an expansion strategy that includes an increasing presence in e-commerce, leveraging the popularity of its video platforms. This represents a substantial increase from just over a year ago, despite the uncertainty surrounding its valuable US business.
China's government would also need to approve any potential sale, and public statements from Beijing have so far been unsupportive. Officials have been evaluating a potential option involving Elon Musk acquiring the service in the US, although the strong preference is for TikTok to remain wholly within ByteDance, as reported by Bloomberg News. Musk, who already owns the X social network, has said he is not interested.
To date, the public bidders include a group led by billionaire Frank McCourt and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, another prominent tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley and YouTube star MrBeast, and a merger offer from San Francisco-based Perplexity AI. Trump has also mentioned Oracle founder Larry Ellison's name, and TikTok has collaborated with Oracle on hosting its US users' data.
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