Walmart and Microsoft team up to buy back TikTok’s US assets
Walmart, the world’s largest wholesale and retail chain, has confirmed its partnership with Microsoft to acquire the US business of the popular short video service TikTok. Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove told the CNBC news agency.
He did not elaborate on how Walmart and Microsoft are going to share TikTok’s assets in the United States if they become the new owners of the Chinese video service division in the United States.
Hargrove also did not provide any details on exactly how Walmart intends to use TikTok if acquired. At the same time, CNBC notes that the chain is going to launch Walmart + service in the foreseeable future, which will be a response to the Amazon Prime streaming subscription platform, which offers its users original TV shows and series. True, Hargrove himself did not specify whether TikTok will become part of Walmart +. In his words, the company is more interested in new potential advertising opportunities. He noted that the integration of e-commerce and advertising services into TikTok will provide clear benefits for content creators and users in these industries.
“We believe that a potential partnership with TikTok America in partnership with Microsoft will expand key platform functionality, enabling Walmart to grow its audience through third-party projects and create new advertising space for the business. We are confident that the Walmart-Microsoft partnership will meet the expectations of TikTok’s US audience, as well as address the concerns of US regulators, ”the spokesman said.
If the deal goes through, Walmart and Microsoft will have access to tens of millions of potential buyers for their products, as well as a very tasty advertising audience. Earlier, TikTok said that the active monthly audience of the video service in the United States has almost reached the 100 million mark. The platform has grown by almost 800% in the US market since 2018.
Earlier it was reported that Walmart was working on the issue of buying TikTok together with the Japanese holding SoftBank. However, this deal did not find support from the US government, since it did not imply the purchase of the cloud part of the video service.
In August, Microsoft announced it was continuing negotiations to buy the TikTok business in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with plans to conclude by September 15th. Later, it was reported that companies such as Oracle, Twitter, and Netflix were interested in TikTok assets.
