The report came via the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), with sources to Reuters corroborating the reports. According to the latter, it was Twitter that approached ByteDance to express interest in the deal. Despite the social media company also wanting to buy the popular video app, it remains to be seen if it can afford to do so. So far, it looks like Microsoft is still seen as the more likely company to come to a deal for the TikTok acquisition.
According to Reuters, Twitter itself has a market capitalisation of almost US$30 billion. While it sounds like a huge sum, it’s also almost as much as the valuation of TikTok’s assets being sold. As a result, it will have a hard time getting enough money to close the deal. On the flip side, it appears that private equity firm Silver Lake, which is also one of Twitter’s shareholders, is interested in helping fund a potential deal. Twitter itself also reportedly argued that it will be subject to less regulatory scrutiny than Microsoft. It also claims that it will be free from any Chinese pressure as it doesn’t operate in the country. Overall, it looks like it’s going to be tough for Twitter to steal the deal from Microsoft. The former is also looking for a smaller deal, as it is only looking to take over TikTok’s operations in the US. Microsoft, on the other hand, is looking to also acquire the video app’s operations in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. (Source: WSJ, Reuters)
