TikTok will partner with Oracle to do business in the US, in line with the requirements of the administration. Unlike Microsoft’s deal, the partnership between the two companies will feature a corporate restructuring, which is likely to include a stake in the business rather than a purchase.
Apart from the stock deal, Oracle confirmed it will serve as TikTok’s technology partner and host its data in its cloud servers in the US, which could ease earlier concerns on data security.
United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin earlier in the day unveiled Oracle’s offer which includes the creation of new company dubbed TikTok Global.
Microsoft, which partnered with Walmart to purchase TikTok’s US business seemed like the likely winner after President Trump’s executive order forced ByteDance to either sell the short video app in the US or leave the market.
Microsoft confirmed that ByteDance rejected their proposal in a press statement saying, “ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users while protecting national security interests.”
ByteDance has less than a week to sell its US business. The August 6 executive order set the deadline for the transaction at September 20, with no plans to extend the date.
However, China’s state media CGTN reported that ByteDance would not sell its US business to either Oracle or Microsoft.
