- TikTok has been targeted by the US government;
- While Donald Trump wants to ban the app, firms are fighting over its US operations.
General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, the two major investors in ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, are maneuvering to be part of a deal to acquire the U.S. operations of the popular video-sharing app as it seeks to avoid a ban by the Trump administration, as people familiar with the discussions told The Wall Street Journal. General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital were already discussing the deal with ByteDance’s top officials.
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According to The WSJ, the investment firms are pushing the Oracle’s bid for TikTok, at the expense of Microsoft‘s bid. The newspaper said that the investment firms have two points of interest that potentially conflict: their obligation as board members to maximize the value to ByteDance of its prized asset, and trying to buy into TikTok in the U.S. at a good price to capitalize on its potential.