Existing US-based ByteDance investors want to buy into Trump-backed Oracle deal to spin off TikTok: report
Several current US-based investors in TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance are reportedly looking to join Larry Ellison’s Oracle in a potential deal for the video-sharing app to soothe national security concerns –and avoid the looming ban.General Atlantic, Susquehanna, KKR and Coatue could “acquire additional stakes” in a spun-off version of TikTok’s US business, The Financial Times reported Friday, citing multiple sources familiar with the negotiations.The firms would attempt to buy out Chinese investors as part of a deal, the sources said.Oracle, which already serves as a key cloud-computing partner for TikTok, would also take an ownership stake in the US entity and help ensure the data of more than 170 million American users is secure as part of the President Trump-backed deal.China-based ByteDance would seek to keep an ownership stake in a reformed TikTok US entity, one source told the outlet.That could be a sticking point for Congress, which passed a law requiring ByteDance to divest in order to ensure the Chinese Communist Party couldn’t exploit the app for its own ends.Representatives for the White House, TikTok, General Atlantic, Susquehanna and Coatue did not immediately return requests for comment on the report.
KKR declined to comment.President Trump has until April 5 to find a buyer for TikTok after he issued an executive order after returning to the White House delaying enforcement of Congress’s ban by 75 days.Congress’s ban briefly took effect after ByteDance failed to meet the Jan.
19 divestment deadline.Congress and the Justice Department have said that TikTok, led by CEO Shou Zi Chew, is effectively a tool for the Chinese Communist Party, capable of spying on American users and subtly influencing public opinion through its recommendation algorithm.The company has denied the allegations.Trump has vowed to “save” the app and said he wants the US to take a 50% ownership stake in the app.
Aside from Trump, any deal would have to be...