Twitter has reportedly entered talks to acquire TikTok’s US operations, after President Trump gave TikTok a 45-day ultimatum, to sell or be banned.
Last week, President Trump stepped up his threats and announced a possible ban on TikTok (and WeChat) in 45 days, giving a potential US buyer enough time to close a deal. Microsoft confirmed interest, Apple denied its own interest, but now Twitter could be a new possible candidate to purchase TikTok’s US operations.
Related | TikTok Is Launching Its First TV App On Amazon Fire TV
The Wall Street Journal reports that Twitter has held preliminary talks for a possible combination with TikTok. However, with a market capitalization of $29 billion, Twitter is worth almost the same as the assets TikTok was ordered to divest.
This means Twitter would need to raise additional capital in order to pursue a deal.
“Twitter will have a hard time putting together enough financing to acquire even the U.S. operations of TikTok. It doesn’t have enough borrowing capacity,” said University of Michigan professor Erik Gordon.
TikTok is facing an ultimatum to sell its US operations by September 15. A timeline like this makes it almost impossible for Twitter to be a serious contender. On the other hand, Microsoft, with its $1.6 trillion market cap, has confirmed interest, saying that it will “move quickly” in its talks with ByteDance to acquire TikTok’s US operations.
“TwiTok” sounds interesting, but I doubt it could happen (although DT would love that). Our take is that TikTok will soon operate in the US as part of Microsoft.
You might also like
More from TikTok
TikTok Academy: A New ‘TikTok For Business’ Education Platform
TikTok last week announced the launch of TikTok Academy, a new education platform to help marketers develop TikTok expertise.
How Effective Are TikTok Spark Ads?
Every wondered just how effective TikTok Spark Ads are? Amanda Wood, Senior Social Marketing Manager at Hootsuite, and her team, …
TikTok Is Testing Clear Mode For A Clutter-Free Experience
TikTok has begun testing clear mode a new feature that removes the titles and buttons when scrolling through videos.The platform …
TikTok Tests A New Way To Keep You Engaged: Video Games
TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been conducting tests on video games in Vietnam. The objective: keep young users …
TikTok Will Be The 2022 Presenting Sponsor Of LA Pride Parade
TikTok will be the presenting sponsor for the 2022 LA Pride Parade that will take place June 11 and 12.The …
TikTok Makes It Easy To Credit Creators
TikTok is introducing new tools to make it easier to give credit to Creators and ensure equitable distribution.The new features …
TikTok’s 7-Second Challenge: Performance Insights And Key Learnings
Does TikTok’s 7-second challenge generate more engagement? Hootsuite's Senior Social Marketing Manager and her team seek the answer.
TikTok (Finally) Adds A Friends Tab
TikTok has finally added a friends tab, it replaces the Discover tab in the app’s bottom menu.Is TikTok becoming a …
TikTok Starts Applying Labels To Content From State-controlled Accounts
In response to the war in Ukraine, TikTok is rolling out its state media policy to label content from some …