With the duo of ByteDance and Oracle reportedly in tune with the deal, all hopes are now cast on the vocal President to help seal the agreement.
ByteDance, the embattled parent company of sensational social video app TikTok is reportedly set to go public if President Donald Trump approves its deal with the Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL). According to sources who spoke to CNBC, the president is expected to make his ruling on the deal in the next 24 hours as he is currently in an active consultation with his advisers.
Earlier, it was revealed that ByteDance had chosen Oracle (ORCL) to be its trusted technology partner in the United States, as the company will provide ByteDance cloud infrastructure. While Oracle has confirmed the deal noting that it will do all in its power to secure American’s data, many have feared whether the president will assent to the deal having to give TikTok the option of an outright buyout.
As CNBC reported, ByteDance will seek to address its ownership concerns by making an initial public offering move in a bid to get its global business listed on a US stock exchange. Oracle has been tipped to own a minority stake that will be less than 20% of the new global TikTok business according to two of the people familiar with the matter. Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT), the e-commerce giant now poised to partner with Oracle (ORCL) will also take a stake, but the size is yet unknown.
ByteDance and Oracle Wait on President Trump
With the duo of ByteDance and Oracle reportedly in tune with the deal, all hopes are now cast on the vocal President to help seal the contract. The President had initially expressed his displeasure with the ByteDance Oracle deal, but his stance may be influenced by his key advisers as would be made known anytime from now.
“From the standpoint of ByteDance we don’t like that,” Trump said about ByteDance retaining a majority stake in the business. “I mean, just conceptually I can tell you I don’t like that.”
A major twist recorded on President Trump’s part is the deal’s financials. While the president once made it known that the TikTok acquisition will also see the benefitting company pay the United States Treasury as the president claim he is the one who initiated the deal, the president has noted that he’s been advised against it as there is no legal basis for the U.S. Treasury to benefit.
“Amazingly I find that you’re not allowed to do that,” Trump said. “I said, ‘What kind of a thing is this?’ If they’re willing to make big payments to the government, they’re not allowed because there’s no way of doing that from a – there’s no legal path to do that.”
At least, while awaiting the president’s verdict on the deal, ByteDance, Oracle and Walmart can be sure that undue more revenue will not be going to the government if the deal gets approved by the president.
If the president refuses to sign off on the deal, speculations are that the president will keep up to his word and ban TikTok in the United States.
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