Oracle joins bid to acquire TikTok as US ban looms

Oracle has emerged as a somewhat unlikely contender in the race to take over TikTok’s operations in key Western markets, including the US.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Oracle has joined early front runners Microsoft and Twitter in bidding to buy the popular video sharing platform.

Oracle mainly caters to corporate clients and generates most of its revenues from cloud offerings and software licensing to large businesses.

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has been at odds with the Trump administration over privacy concerns. The US government says the Chinese government could access Americans’ data held by ByteDance. The company has denied the allegations.

The president has given ByteDance 45 days to agree to a sale of TikTok before transactions with either TikTok or ByteDance are prohibited. The company will then be banned from operating in the US.

Read: Microsoft, TikTok deal on hold as Donald Trump mulls US ban

Oracle shares closed up 2.2 per cent on the news on Tuesday, giving the company a market cap of $169bn.

Oracle co-founder and chairman Larry Ellison is one of very few Silicon Valley executives to publicly support Trump. The president appeared to support the Oracle bid, calling it “a great company” on Tuesday.

The Trump administration has stepped up its efforts to purge what it deems “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks. Beyond TikTok, Trump has also issued an order that would prohibit transactions with WeChat, owned by Chinese-headquartered Tencent.

Also, on Tuesday, the US Commerce Department on Monday announced fresh sanctions restricting any foreign semiconductor company from selling chips developed or produced using US software or technology to Huawei, without first obtaining a license to do so. The order could deal a fatal blow to Huawei operations which relies on foreign-made semiconductors to power its 5G telecommunications gear.