Walmart to Team-up with Microsoft for Purchasing TikTok’s US Operations

TikTok has been at the helm of a diplomatic storm between the US and China after President Trump signed an executive order on August 6 giving Americans just 45 days’ time to stop doing business with TikTok’s owner Bytedance. Afterward, a race has begun among top US companies including Microsoft, Google, etc. to purchase TikTok’s US operations. It seems like Microsoft is currently taking the lead as recently the US retail giant Walmart said that it had teamed up with Microsoft in a bid to purchase video-platform TikTok.

Walmart to Team-up with Microsoft for Purchasing TikTok’s US Operations

A Walmart spokesperson told AFP,

We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators.

According to analysts, Walmart’s main motive behind purchasing TikTok is to better connect with younger shoppers who turn to the internet for lifestyle trends.

The GlobalData Retail managing director Neil Saunders stated,

Younger people are much less likely to shop at Walmart, whether online or in real-world stores. A social platform like TikTok would give Walmart easy access to the very audience it wants and needs to attract. Having access to the social media sensation could help Walmart’s marketing campaigns while tapping into “a rich seam of data” or product development and more.

according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, Walmart teaming up with Microsoft was “the final piece of the puzzle that ultimately cements Microsoft successfully acquiring TikTok’s US operations for likely $35 billion to $40 billion.”

Ives further said that deal negotiations will be complex with several technology and data privacy issues that need to be solved before an agreement is finalized.

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