SOURCE / COMPANIES
Centricus, Triller join list of bidders for TikTok
Published: Aug 29, 2020 02:07 PM

TikTok. Photo: VCG



London-based asset management company Centricus and US-based Triller, a music video and social media platform have reportedly offered $20 billion to acquire much of TikTok's international operations. 

The deal would include acquisition of TikTok's assets in the US, Australia, New Zealand and India. According to reports, the proposal would be made up of $10 billion in cash and $10 billion in profit sharing. 

The Centricus and Triller offer follows a Walmart-Microsoft bid which was announced this week.

On Friday, Vanessa Pappas, the app's interim head said the Walmart proposal offers synergies between the two companies, according to media reports. 

The Trump administration clamped down the social media platform in early August, when Trump issued an executive order requiring Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok within 45 days. 

Earlier in August, Microsoft emerged as the first to explore a purchasing TikTok in the US. 

Twitter, the US social networking platform, has also held talks about purchasing TikTok's US operations. 

Analysts say the Microsoft-Walmart offer is still the most likely to succeed.

"The current market cap of Twitter is less than $30 billion, while TikTok's valuation is between $30 and $50 billion," an expert in international merger and acquisition deals surnamed Li told the Global Times. 

It's near impossible for smaller companies to acquire TikTok without engaging other large institutional investors, Li added. 

"Now that big companies like Microsoft and Walmart are teaming up, smaller companies don't stand a chance," Li said. 

Last week ByteDance field a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the executive order regarding TikTok, saying the company has been deprived of due process. 

Global Times