Oracle Corp. has held preliminary talks with ByteDance Ltd. on a potential bid for part of TikTok’s business, seeking to rival a competing bid by Microsoft Corp., the Financial Times has reported.
The company controlled by billionaire Larry Ellison is working with TikTok’s US investors, including General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, to consider a bid for the viral video app’s operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the FT said, citing people briefed on the matter.
The entry of Oracle could challenge Microsoft’s bargaining power as the Redmond-based company had been the only party to publicly confirm it was in talks with ByteDance. President Donald Trump on Friday ordered ByteDance to sell its US assets within 90 days, adding to an earlier executive order that would prohibit US persons and companies from doing business with TikTok effective 45 days from Aug. 6.