TikTok Acquisition in US: Walmart Teams Up With Microsoft to Bid for Chinese Video-Sharing Social Networking App

Washington, August 27: With Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai denying of being in the race to acquire the Chinese short-video making app TikTok, reports arrived on Thursday that Walmart has confirmed teaming up with Microsoft in a bid for TikTok. Following this, the retail giant's shares were up by 5 per cent, reports CNBC.

According to a report, Published in the CNBC, ByteDance -- TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company -- is mulling for an agreement to sell its the United States, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand operations. Though it has yet not chosen the buyers, sources reveal that the deal might be in between $20 billion to $30 billion range. Apart from Walmart, Microsoft, Oracle and 'a third US company' have made bids on TikTok, added CNBC. TikTok Acquisition: Google Not in Race to Buy Chinese Short-Video Making App, Says Sundar Pichai.

Issuing a statement, Walmart stated that it believes TikTok's integration with advertising is a 'clear benefit to creators and users in those markets'. Also, Walmart believed that the new addition would offer an opportunity to bring a new spin to e-commerce.

Walmart said in its statement, as quoted by CNBC, "We believe a potential relationship with TikTok US in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses." Adding more, the statement said, "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."

As per the details, if approved, the deal would give Walmart and Microsoft access to hundreds of millions of consumers. These are the prospective customers who may buy their products or become a lucrative audience for ads, believe the US firms. Meanwhile, TikTok had said last week that it nearly 100 million monthly active US users.

Earlier in July, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in July that he was considering banning TikTok and other Chinese applications for security reasons. Following this, TikTok started to look for a buyer. It is to be known that Pentagon, US House of Representatives and US Senate banned TikTok from government-issued mobile devices this year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 27, 2020 11:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).