Published 11:58 IST, August 13th 2020
TikTok's parent ByteDance in talks with Reliance for backing app in India: Reports
In a massive development, sources on Thursday reported that Chinese giant ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok is in talks with Reliance Industries Limited
In a massive development, reports on Thursday suggested that Chinese giant ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is in talks with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for backing the banned app's business in India. This comes as a big revelation since it is reported that the move could potentially help lift the ban on the popular video-sharing app in India, which was one of its largest markets amassing over 200 million users. The thought process here appears to be along the lines of what is being discussed in the US, with US-based companies looking to acquire TikTok's operations in those regions so that it needn't any longer be a Chinese company.
Sources have revealed that ByteDance and RIL are in early stages of discussions which commenced last month and have not finalised a deal adding that talks are mostly private. It is also uncertain if TikTok could make a comeback through this deal especially since the Indian Government followed up on their 59 Chinese apps ban by banning another 47 alleged 'clones' of the earlier apps.
However, an investment by RIL into TikTok could prove to be another landmark breakthrough for the company's digital arm- JioPlatforms which received over 12 major investments in the last 11 weeks from the top global entities including Google, Facebook, Intel Capital, Silver Lake, and others making Chairman Mukesh Ambani the fourth-richest man in the world. Last month, the market value of Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries reached a record-breaking Rs 13.94 lakh crore.
Microsoft in talks with TikTok
Meanwhile, in the US, US President Donald Trump on August 6 signed an executive order banning American citizens and businesses from doing any transaction with Chinese-owned application TikTok, its parent company ByteDance and messaging app WeChat after 45 days. Trump had earlier announced that TikTok will go out of business by September in his country if not sold to an American company, accusing the Chinese-owned apps of storing personal data of American citizens and possibly sharing it with Beijing.
Sources have revealed that US tech giant Microsoft is already in talks with ByteDance to reach an agreement regarding the sale of TikTok's US operations, while social media networking site Twitter has also expressed interest. US President Donald Trump last week said that he would support Microsoft’s efforts to buy TikTok’s US operations if the government received a 'substantial portion' of the proceeds.
Updated 11:59 IST, August 13th 2020