TikTok’s Latest Deadline to Sell Its U.S. Operations Is Here...Again
Published Date: 12/4/2020
Source: Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
One of the year’s largest tech deals has been put off so long you might have forgotten about it: TikTok’s latest deadline to sell its U.S. operations to American investors is this Friday. Chinese parent ByteDance Inc. now has only a few days to meet that deadline and close a deal that could value its most successful global asset at $60 billion. ByteDance is set to sell a large stake of its short-form video phenomenon to Walmart Inc. and Oracle Corp. in a hastily compiled agreement, sketched out before the U.S. presidential election. Another possibility, however, is that nothing will happen. Multiple deadlines have already come and gone since the U.S. alleged improper closeness between ByteDance and the Chinese government, and demanded that TikTok hand over control to U.S. investors. The deal was set to be finalized on Nov. 12, a date granted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which examines national security threats. But that was pushed back by 15 days and then a further week by CFIUS, allowing the companies more time to negotiate final terms. On Friday, TikTok could finally solidify the transaction, it could fail to do so and face repercussions enforced by the U.S. Justice Department -- or the company could manage to further drag out the process. Much of the urgency around the deal stemmed from President Donald Trump's promises to ban the app, and his administration has recently pulled back from its threats. At the same time, judges have granted preliminary injunctions against a series of TikTok bans. Those cases could lapse when President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January, unless he decides to defend Trump’s orders in court. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake