Walmart joins Microsoft in bid for TikTok's US operations

               Composite of Walmart, Microsoft and Tik Tok logos


The US retail giant Walmart has said it will team up with Microsoft to make a bid for the US operations of TikTok.

Walmart told the BBC it thought a deal with the Chinese video-sharing app would help it expand its operations.TikTok has been given 90 days to sell its US arm to an American firm or face a ban in the country. Donald Trump has alleged it shares its user data with Beijing - claims it denies.Earlier on Thursday the firm's boss resigned ahead of the impending ban. Confirming that the company was pursuing a deal, a Walmart spokesperson told the BBC: "We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators. Microsoft, which confirmed at the beginning of August that it was in talks with TikTok, told the BBC it had nothing to share at this time. With Walmart, which owns UK supermarket chain Asda, it will now go up against other prospective bidders, including the US tech giant Oracle.According to reports, TikTok's US operations could fetch as much as $30bn (£22bn) if a deal is reached. Since its global launch at the end of 2018 Tiktok has attracted a huge following, especially amongst the under-25s.The app lets its followers create short videos, with the help of an extensive database of songs and wide range of filters.

.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tour de France stage guide: Adam Yates profiles 2020 race stages

Image
                       This year's rescheduled Tour de France starts in Nice on Saturday and finishes in Paris on Sunday, 20 September . The riders will tackle a particularly tough course, with plenty of unique touches, as they race 3,470km around France. Britain’s Adam Yates is targeting stage wins over general classification in his fifth Tour and has given BBC Sport his insight into each of the stages. This page will be updated throughout the Tour with the winner and brief report after each stage has been completed. Saturday, 29 August - stage one: Nice - Nice, 156km           There is a prediction for some rain, which could make things tricky, but the crucial climbs are probably too far from the finish so I expect it to come down to a bunch sprint to decide the stage winner and first yellow jersey. Sunday, 30 August ,stage two Nice - Nice186km  
Read more

Sydney blue whale: Rare sighting was 'possibly third in 100 years'

Image
                A blue whale has been spotted off the coast of Sydney in Australia for possibly only the third time in almost 100 years, wildlife authorities say. The whale was seen last month in waters near the beachside suburb of Maroubra in New South Wales.The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) confirmed the extremely rare sighting on Friday.Blue whales  the largest animals on Earth - are rarely seen so close to the shore, it said.The blue whale is the largest animal on the planet yet despite its size it could have easily slipped by Sydney's coast unnoticed,  Andrew Marshall of the NPWS said in a news release .Mr Marshall said the sea creature may have been more than 25m (82ft) in length and weighed more than 100 tonnes (100,000kg).Yet despite their size, blue whales are largely 'invisible even to the most avid whale watchers, Mr Marshall said.They are not often seen because they tend to live very far out to sea, their populations are widely dispersed and we have
Read more

Belarus Lukashenko: Dozens arrested at mass protests in Belarus

Image
                    Police in Belarus have arrested at least 100 people in the capital Minsk and other towns as protests against President Alexander Lukashenko were held for a fourth weekend in a row .   In Minsk, they charged demonstrators near the presidential palace, firing pepper spray and wielding batons.Tens of thousands of people defied heavy security and rallied in the city.They want the long-time president to resign after his re-election last month amid allegations of ballot-rigging.Mass unrest since then has seen at least four people killed and hundreds injured as the government tries to stamp out dissent.A number of opposition figures have fled the country. On Saturday, activist Olga Kovalkova became the latest to say she had taken refuge in neighbouring Poland amid threats of imprisonment
Read more