TikTok seals the deal with Oracle, Microsoft rejected

The video-sharing app TikTok, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, has locked the deal with Oracle for its operation in the United States, rejecting the bid from tech-giant Microsoft.

According to a source familiar with the matter, ByteDance has chosen Oracle its most favourable partner to buy the app in US.

Microsoft, who was considered as one of the strongest contendors in the bid to buy the app, on Sunday announced that TikTok has rejected its offer a week before President Trump's executive order's deadline ends.

TikTok, meanwhile, refrained from commenting on the matter.

ByteDance has been in search of a suitable buyer for selling TikTok since President Donald Trump threatened to ban the app in the country citing privacy issues. He effectively set a deadline to pressurise the firm to accelerate the process of selling.

According to a report published in the Washington Post, Oracle has been chosen by ByteDance as a "technology partner" to allay US concerns. Reuters, on the other hand, said that the deal would be more than a mere sale as the company is looking forward to the reconstruction of the app as Oracle will handle US user data.

ByteDance need approval for the deal from both Washington and Beijing. It would be interesting to see if Trump, who had asked ByteDance to sell TikTok to a US firm, will approve the proposal or not.

It has not been revealed that how much of TikTok’s US operations ByteDance and its investors would continue to own.

Trump has claimed TikTok could be used by China to track the locations of federal employees, build dossiers on people for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.