WMT
Walmart first sought to be majority TikTok owner, with Alphabet/SoftBank -
CNBC
- The twisted saga to acquire the U.S. part of TikTok (BDNCE) isn't
getting less twisty today. The news cycle was led by the story that
Walmart
(NYSE:WMT) is teaming up with presumed front-runner Microsoft(NASDAQ:MSFT
) on a bid that could range to $30B or even more.
- As unlikely as that odd coupling seems, Alex Sherman now reports that
Walmart originally sought majority ownership of TikTok, in a consortium
with Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY).
- That consortium was assembled by SoftBank COO Marcelo Claure, who felt
that Walmart's all-American image and Google's cloud infrastructure could
provide a way into the deal for the Japanese tech investing giant.
- Walmart would have been the lead buyer in that deal, with SoftBank and
Alphabet taking minority stakes along with perhaps one or two other
holders.
- And shedding some light on the Walmart news today: In the SoftBank
deal, Walmart wanted to be exclusive e-commerce and payments provider for
TikTok, with access to its user data to bolster those abilities.
- But the government wanted the lead buyer to be a technology company -
the better fit for a national-security rationale for the executive orders
forcing TikTok's sale, according to the report.
- Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) is reportedly submitting a $20B cash/stock bid for
TikTok, but now has to contend with the combined might of Walmart and
Microsoft, which at least look to have an in with the U.S. government on
the deal.
|Today, 8:23 PM|29 Comments
Walmart first sought to be majority TikTok owner, with Alphabet/SoftBank -
CNBC
- The twisted saga to acquire the U.S. part of TikTok (BDNCE) isn't
getting less twisty today. The news cycle was led by the story that
Walmart
(NYSE:WMT) is teaming up with presumed front-runner Microsoft(NASDAQ:MSFT
) on a bid that could range to $30B or even more.
- As unlikely as that odd coupling seems, Alex Sherman now reports that
Walmart originally sought majority ownership of TikTok, in a consortium
with Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY).
- That consortium was assembled by SoftBank COO Marcelo Claure, who felt
that Walmart's all-American image and Google's cloud infrastructure could
provide a way into the deal for the Japanese tech investing giant.
- Walmart would have been the lead buyer in that deal, with SoftBank and
Alphabet taking minority stakes along with perhaps one or two other
holders.
- And shedding some light on the Walmart news today: In the SoftBank
deal, Walmart wanted to be exclusive e-commerce and payments provider for
TikTok, with access to its user data to bolster those abilities.
- But the government wanted the lead buyer to be a technology company -
the better fit for a national-security rationale for the executive orders
forcing TikTok's sale, according to the report.
- Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) is reportedly submitting a $20B cash/stock bid for
TikTok, but now has to contend with the combined might of Walmart and
Microsoft, which at least look to have an in with the U.S. government on
the deal.
|Today, 8:23 PM|29 Comments
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