Oracle has joined the race to acquire TikTok’s U.S operations, presenting a direct challenge to Microsoft, which has been the frontrunner in the race to acquire the social media company. The company that acquires TikTok’s U.S operations will also take over its assets in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.
According to sources close to the matter, the U.S enterprise software giant is in talks with a group of U.S. venture capital firms that are also shareholders in TikTok. The Financial Times recently revealed that General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, which are investors in TikTok, are assisting Oracle.
Sources have indicated that Oracle has accelerated talks to acquire TikTok operations in four countries in recent days. So far, Microsoft is ahead of other contenders in the race to acquire the social media company.
Although Microsoft has been working with the U.S government to seal the deal for over a month now, Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, is a big supporter of President Trump. The Trump administration has vowed to ban the social media app whose origin is China. The government is pushing TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to be acquired by a U.S company.
Threats to national security
Recently Trump signed an executive order directing ByteDance to be acquired by a U.S company within 45 days or close shops in the U.S. In order, Trump accused the app of being a threat to national security due to the possibility of being used by China to spy on the U.S.
“There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance … might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States,” Trump said.
Until then, entry of Oracle, Microsoft has been the frontrunner in the race to get an American buyer. Earlier, reports had indicated that Twitter had expressed interest in buying TikTok. There were however, concerns raised over the financial capacity of the deal. Although ByteDance has not publicly revealed the deal’s price tag, TikTok has grown in recent years to become the most valuable startup in 2018.