Uncertainty hangs over the shape of TickTalk sales to U.S. investors

Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc. have recently stated that they and US investors will own a majority stake in the video app in the wake of the deal with US President Donald Trump’s administration, with China ByteDance claiming that TicTac’s global business will become its subsidiary.

Trump signed an executive order on August 14 giving Bydance a 90-day deadline to sell TicTac, raising concerns that the personal data of 100 million Americans who use the app could be sent to the Chinese government. On Saturday, he said he was in principle supporting an agreement that would allow Tic Tac Toe to continue in the US.

The accounts of the contract are different. ByteDance said Monday that it owns 80 percent of the newly created US company TickTalk Global, which owns most of its app operations worldwide. Oracle, which has agreed to acquire a 12.5 percent and 7.5 percent stake in TicTac Global, respectively, said on Saturday that TicTac ownership will be in U.S. hands.

ByteDance said in a statement on Monday that it was rumored that American investors would own the global majority of TicTac. While Oracle declined to comment on Bite Dance’s, Walmart did not respond to a request for comment.

Some groups close to the deal have sought to reconcile the discrepancy by pointing out that 41 percent of ByteDance is owned by U.S. investors, so by calculating this indirect ownership, TickTock Global will be owned by a majority of US parties. A deal with Oracle and Walmart has valued TicTac Global at more than $ 50 billion, a source said.

TikTalk Global has confirmed TikTalk’s plans for its initial public offering. The Beijing-based company said the board of directors of TicTac Global will include ByteDance founder Ng Yim Ying, as well as Walmart chief executive Doug McMillan and current ByteDance directors.

Byte Dance said the current plan for TikTalk Global will not involve the transfer of algorithms or technologies, and that Oracle TikTalk could examine the US source code. Byte Dance said it was the equivalent of US companies such as Microsoft Corp sharing their source code with Chinese technology experts.

Under pressure

ByteDance said it would pay $ 5 billion to TikTalk Global US Treasury based on projected revenue and other taxes the company will have to pay over the next few years and has nothing to do with the deal with Oracle and Walmart. . Trump said last week that he would create a $ 5 billion U.S. education fund as part of the deal.

ByteDance has pushed for a deal to sell TicTac after Trump threatened to ban the app in the United States over national security issues. After Microsoft Corp made a proposal for a full acquisition of the service, Byte Dance opted for the Oracle offering instead, in which the Chinese parent holds a solid majority stake.

Trump, who left the White House for a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, told reporters Saturday that “I approved the deal.” If they do, it’s great. If they do not, then so be it. “

TikTalk has been the top target in Trump’s attempt to suppress China ahead of the November 3 U.S. presidential election. Tensions between Washington and Beijing are mounting as the Trump administration launches a campaign to adopt the country’s technology, which has also pitted Tencent Holdings Ltd over the banning of the WeChat social media app in the US.

“This is part of a broader technological decoupling between our two countries,” said Melissa Hathaway, president of Hathaway Global Strategies and an adviser to the Obama and Bush administration. “Unfortunately, we use our different rules or policies or authorities to drive that rift and force choices between our companies and its entire customer base.”