TikTok and Twitter could finally merge under Microsoft’s watchful eye

Microsoft, which has been in pole position for several days to acquire part of TikTok’s activities, is witnessing the arrival of a new competitor. The WSJ reported: Twitter and Bytedance hold preliminary talks on merger But the little bluebird platform is far from having the financial resources to capture Microsoft’s attention, but the battle is not lost in advance.

TikTok is valued at between $15 billion and $50 billion, far outweighing Twitter, which has a market cap of around $29 billion. The social network will need to rely on additional investors to have any chance of succeeding.

Less than forty days to reach an agreement

Last week, Donald Trump signed an executive order that forces TikTok to sell its operations in the United States before September 15, 2020. Twitter therefore has a relatively short time to reach an agreement, especially since it will have to resort to external financing. Microsoft therefore remains in a positive balance. The latest news is that the Redmond firm wants to buy all of TikTok, and not just its operations in the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as initially reported.

This would give Microsoft control over almost all of TikTok’s assets, except for its operations in China. So far, Twitter and Microsoft are the only candidates announced to acquire the social network. It is also possible that any sale could be blocked by legal action taken by Bytedance to override the US presidential order. The company is actually threatening to appeal what it sees as an abuse of power.

“We are angry at the final decision that was published without any legal procedure.” The company writes in a press release published at the end of last week, adding that it reserves the right to seize all legal remedies available to it. “ To ensure that the principle of the rule of law is not ignored and [son] work and [ses] “Users are treated fairly, if not by the administration, then at least by the American courts,” can we read it in the press release?

Source : WSJ