U.S. and China Believed to Have Given Final Approval to Sale of TikTok’s U.S. Unit, Deal Expected This Week

[The Financial News] Since 2024, the video platform TikTok, which has been at the center of the tech rivalry between the United States of America (USA) and China, appears to have finally seen its ownership dispute come to a close, according to a new claim.
Politico reported on the 22nd (local time), one day before the TikTok divestment deadline set by the U.S. government, citing people familiar with the matter, that the stake issue had been resolved. The outlet said the U.S. and Chinese governments have given final approval to an agreement to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to a consortium that includes Oracle Corporation (Oracle) and private equity firm Silver Lake, and claimed the deal is expected to be completed this week.
In April 2024, the United States Congress (Congress) criticized the fact that TikTok’s parent company is the Chinese firm ByteDance and voiced concerns that TikTok could pass sensitive data such as U.S. users’ addresses to the Chinese government or manipulate public opinion in the United States. In response, Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act and confirmed that if ByteDance failed to sell TikTok’s U.S. business rights to a non-Chinese company by the deadline, TikTok would be banned from operating in the United States. Under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, ByteDance was required to sell the business rights by January 19 last year, but it did not meet the deadline and ultimately halted TikTok’s service in the U.S. market.
However, President of the United States (POTUS) Donald John Trump (President Donald Trump) effectively revived TikTok in the U.S. by postponing enforcement of the TikTok ban law for 75 days when he began his second term on January 20 last year. During his first administration, President Trump had sought to ban TikTok’s operations in the United States, but he reversed course after successfully using TikTok to boost his popularity in last year’s presidential election. He proposed creating a new company led by U.S. investors and transferring the existing TikTok U.S. unit’s business rights to that entity. China opposed the plan, arguing that such a transaction could lead to the leakage of TikTok’s platform technology overseas. As U.S. investors, the Trump administration and the Chinese government took time to reach an agreement, the deadline for TikTok’s sale was repeatedly extended, with the most recent cutoff set for the 23rd of this month.
According to people familiar with the matter, ByteDance’s stake in TikTok’s U.S. entity will fall to below 20% under the deal. Oracle, Silver Lake and United Arab Emirates (UAE) state-owned artificial intelligence investment firm MGX Fund Management Limited (MGX) will each acquire a 15% stake, while Susquehanna International Group, Dragoneer Investment Group and DFO Management, LLC (DFO), the family office of Michael Dell, will also participate as investors. The specific sale price and any terms related to TikTok’s algorithms have not been disclosed. Vice President of the United States JD Vance (Vice President JD Vance) said last September that TikTok’s U.S. business was valued at about 14 billion dollars (around 20 trillion won).
Meanwhile, TikTok chief executive officer (CEO) Shou Zi Chew said in an internal document last month that the new U.S. joint venture will operate as an independent entity in the United States, with authority over data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance. The White House, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury Department) and Oracle did not respond to requests for comment on the latest report.


pjw@fnnews.com Park Jong-won Reporter