The short-form video app TikTok owned by Chinese has been approached by Twitter to negotiate a possible deal. Last week President Donald Trump demanded to ban firms from doing business with TikTok within 45 days due to security concerns.
Tech giant Microsoft is the front-runner to purchase TikTok but now Twitter has appeared as a possible suitor.
But it still invisible whether Twitter can afford to purchase TikTok from its Chinese owners and can finish a deal within the 45-day window, according to sources quoted in the Wall Street Journal.
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The worth of TikTok’s US operations aren’t visible but approximately put it at tens of billions of dollars.
Twitter’s market capitalisation is about $29bn (£22bn), dominated by Microsoft’s at more than $1.6tn.
But experts say a possible Twitter deal would face less regulatory scrutiny than Microsoft’s.
A Twitter spokesman refused to comment on a possible deal while TikTok didn’t respond quickly as soon as he was contacted by the BBC.
Last Friday, President Donald Trump demanded US firms to stop doing business with the Chinese app within 45 days. The Trump administration alleges that the Chinese government has access to user information collected by TikTok, which the firm has frequently rejected.
Responding to the US president’s executive order, TikTok has warned to take legal action against the US saying it was “shocked” by the act.
The US government also revealed a prohibit on Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat as tensions increase between the two countries.
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Trump said last week he would support Microsoft’s decision to purchase TikTok’s US operations if the government got a “substantial portion” of the proceeds.
He has set the latest date of 15 September for the deal to be negotiated and completed or else the prohibit will occur.
Microsoft said it “will move quickly to pursue discussions” for TikTok’s operations in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Do you think Twitter will afford to purchase Tiktok within 45 days?