Twitter makes bold bid for TikTok
LONDON: Twitter has made an audacious bid to gatecrash Microsoft’s talks to buy TikTok with a plan to acquire the Chinese videosharing app’s US operations.
The micro-blogging network held preliminary talks with TikTok, although it is regarded as a longshot to secure a deal given its market capitalisation of $29bn ($40.5bn) is dwarfed by Microsoft’s dollars $1.6 trillion value. Twitter’s interest was first reported in The Wall Street Journal.
TikTok, owned by Beijingbased ByteDance, has been declared a national security threat by Donald Trump over its Chinese ownership.
Mr Trump has said it must find a buyer for its US operations within a month or face a ban. He said the app could “allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information”.
TikTok, whose video-sharing app is a hit with teenagers around the world, reacted with fury and vowed to challenge the US government in court. A federal lawsuit is expected to be filed as soon as Tuesday.
A week ago, Microsoft confirmed it had been in talks to buy TikTok’s operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
A deal to buy TikTok’s US operations is tipped to cost as much as $30bn.