Oracle Enters Race to Buy TikTok US Operations, Reports Say

By Dana Cruz First Posted: Aug 18, 2020 04:03 AM EDT

(Photo : Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The Oracle logo is displayed on the company's world headquarters April 20, 2009 in Redwood Shores, California.

Oracle has expressed intent to buy off TikTok's U.S. operations, seeking a rival out of Microsoft Corp. to acquire the viral video-sharing app, reports said.

According to people familiar with the matter, Oracle has held preliminary talks with other parties to partner with a bid on TikTok's U.S. operations.

On top of the U.S. operations, Oracle also wanted to buy parts of TikTok in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, some sources said in a Bloomberg report.

Venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and General Atlantic are said to be the top investors working with Oracle on the buy-out race, reported the CNBC.

Oracle is a giant in the software industry. Its entry in the TikTok buy-out race has not yet been confirmed beyond what was reported by the Financial Times.

A spokesperson from TikTok has also didn't comment on the matter. Microsoft had been the only party to confirm that they are in talks with TikTok's parent company ByteDance Ltd.

Another company that took part in the TikTok buy-out race is Twitter Inc, reported the Reuters. But with the speed that Microsoft has made, it is unlikely for the smaller tech firm to get TikTok.

Reports also said that Microsoft had considered taking over global operations of TikTok beyond what they outlined earlier this month. In particular, they are looking into getting Europe and India stems from the social media app.

TikTok was recently banned in India due to border tensions with China. ByteDance did not seek to sell any more assets than the four countries that were first listed.

Oracle Talks Pick Up Speed

According to sources, the talks between TikTok and Oracle have picked up speed in the past few days.

Oracle and Microsoft are the two most far ahead of any other companies to have expressed interest.

For more than a month, Microsoft has been working with the U.S. government to acquire the assets for TikTok. TikTok was given 90 days to sell its U.S. operations.

President Donald Trump also ordered a ban on U.S. companies from doing business with TikTok effective 45 days from August 6.

Oracle's co-founder and executive chair Larry Ellison has expressed his support for Trump. Earlier this year, Ellison threw a campaign fundraising even for Trump.

TikTok is Unlike Other Oracle Ventures

A social media or video venture is unlike what Oracle usually does. It often focused on supplying businesses.

They have no investments in consumer apps or social media.In theory, they can use customer data from TikTok to improve the products they produce. But spending billions on a social media app is a big step away from what they usually produce.

After Amazon Web Services took over cloud computing, Oracle struggled to find new avenues of growth. In its fiscal fourth quarter, the company's revenue went down by 6 percent to $10.4 billion.

Oracle has also been acquisitive in the past, but it has slowed down on such efforts, especially large ones, in recent years.