The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 22nd that the US venture capital (VC) is seeking to acquire TikTok. The U.S. government has been raising its voice to oust TikTok, claiming it engages in “spy activities” against U.S. users.
The FT quoted multiple officials as saying that investors led by VCs such as General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital are discussing with related authorities. Including the US Treasury Department, they discuss how to acquire Tik Tok from its parent company Byte Dance.
TikTok, soon to be a US company?
They are discussing whether separating TikTok from Byte Dance and hitting firewalls will address U.S. concerns about TikTok. If the acquisition proceeds, Byte Dance will reportedly hold only a small number of shares without voting rights. “This is the only viable plan,” the official said.
Besides them, private equity funds based in New York and Silicon Valley Tech companies also approached byte dance in connection with TikTok. But no other place seems to have been discussed as much as General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, FT said. In particular, Byte Dance is notorious to be reluctant to share technology with competitors.
The investors haven’t disclose their price offer. Byte Dance was at $75 billion of valuation in its final funding for 2018. In India and the West, the number of users of TikTok has increased to hundreds of millions. But profitability does not appear to be significant yet.
Previously, Forbes reported that TikTok planned on opening 10,000 new job opportunities in the US. Even though the US sanctions threatens to ban the app at all from the country. The US has banned its federal officer from using the Chinese app. Accordingly at the same time, its competitor, Triller suddenly received millions of download.
So far, India has banned the app entirely from the country following the anti-China sentiment after their clash at the borders.
