New rumors are flying in the deal to acquire TikTok’s US operations. We just got done adding a second update to our post from this morning when even more news popped up. To recap, CNBC reports that a deal to acquire TikTok could be announced in the coming days, maybe within 48 hours or so, and although a decision hasn’t been made on a suitor or a price, the deal could be in the $20-30 billion range. CNBC says that Microsoft is the likely winner, although TheWrap has chimed in to say that it’s Oracle in “the lead position,” with a $10 billion cash, $10 billion stock, and 50% of TikTok profits over the next two years going back to ByteDance.
Just now, CNBC is also reporting that Walmart wants to team up with Microsoft for a stake in TikTok, providing this statement to 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,” it 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.”
In addition, although they have not been mentioned as frontrunners, Bloomberg is reporting that Google is not pursuing a TikTok acquisition.
