Two giants to tip the scales. Walmart confirmed Thursday that it had allied itself with Microsoft in negotiations to buy the TikTok video-sharing app from Chinese group ByteDance, which President Donald Trump has threatened to ban if it does not fall into the fold. 'an American company.
The supermarket giant says it is particularly interested in "the capabilities of TikTok to integrate online commerce and advertising in a way that is beneficial to creators and users in other markets", in a message sent to AFP.
According to the American channel CNBC, TikTok is close to an agreement with a buyer to whom it would sell its operations in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for a price of between 20 and 30 billion dollars. Other potential buyers have been cited in the press, including Twitter and the IT group Oracle, which has received support from Donald Trump.
Resignation of the general manager
The American president has accused for months, without proof, the very popular social network of siphoning information on its American users on behalf of Beijing, in a context of heightened tensions with China. He signed two executive orders aimed at forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok's US operations quickly, on pain of blocking the app in the US, and demanded that part of the transaction price go to state coffers, arousing criticism and embarrassment.
“We believe that an alliance between Walmart and Microsoft would meet the expectations of American TikTok users and address the concerns of the US government,” Walmart notes.
The social media and e-commerce sectors flourished during the pandemic, thanks to increased demand for consumer-at-home products, from entertainment to gardening tools.
TikTok is going through an area of turbulence. US chief executive Kevin Mayer resigned on Wednesday just four months after his arrival, deeming the situation unmanageable in the face of political pressure.
- TikTok
- High-Tech