ByteDance picks Oracle for TikTok US deal: source

[NEW YORK] China's ByteDance has picked a consortium led by Oracle Corp for a deal for the US operations of short-video app TikTok, beating out rival bidder Microsoft Corp, a person familiar with the matter on Sunday.

ByteDance has been in talks to sell TikTok's US business since US President Donald Trump threatened last month to ban the service if it was not sold.

The deal will be structured not as a sale but as a restructuring, the source said, without disclosing how much of TikTok's US operations ByteDance and its investors will continue to own. Oracle will be ByteDance's technology partner and will handle TikTok's US user data, the source added.

ByteDance will need approval for the deal from governments of the United States and China. It is not clear whether Mr Trump, who wants a US technology company to own most of TikTok in the United States, will approve the proposed deal.

ByteDance and Oracle did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House declined to comment.

Microsoft said earlier on Sunday it was informed by ByteDance that it would not be selling TikTok's US operations to Microsoft.

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REUTERS