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TikTok was previously reported to have a deal with Walmart and Oracle for possible acquisition. The sale was supposed to happen soon, but President Joe Biden put the negotiations on hold.
The new POTUS wants to review the transaction and safety of the Chinese app so the sale has been postponed. Then again, while waiting for the new “go” signal from the president for the deal to proceed, it was reported that TikTok’s owner ByteDance changed its mind and decided to ditch the proposed sale to Walmart and Oracle.
ByteDance abandons TikTok deal with American buyers
Fox Business reported that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDace just shelved the sale proposal with Oracle and Walmart. It was said that the Chinese company is ditching the plans to sell since Donald Trump is not in office now.
It can be recalled that ByteDance was forced to sell TikTok after the former US president banned Chinese companies from operating in the country. Trump also prohibited American investors from investing or team up with any firms owned by Chinese entities.
Apparently, Trump’s exit from the White House resulted in the ineffectivity of the deal. This is because ByteDance was only threatened, that is why it agreed to sell TikTok. The Chinese company was told by the ex-president that TikTok will be banned if it will not be sold to American operators.
“The deal was mainly designed to entertain demands from the Trump administration,” an anonymous source told Fox. “But Trump is gone, and the raison d’être of the deal is gone with him.”
Biden’s position on the TikTok sale
In any case, there are rumors circulating that TikTok’s sale to Walmart and Oracle may not happen anyway. This is because, after Joe Biden’s review, he may say that the sale could not proceed anymore due to various reasons including national security.
Even so, the Biden administration has yet to release the results of the review so there is no formal decision yet and everything is just a speculation for now. Meanwhile, TikTok could not be reached to give comments on this matter.
