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ByteDance looks for investment from Reliance as it aims for TikTok re-entry in India

The past few weeks have been less than ideal for TikTok, as well as its parent company ByteDance. The probes regarding privacy of user data, along with any potential ties to the Chinese government began when India chose to ban TikTok and 58 other apps.

Since then ByteDance has been looking for a new way into the region, which is the largest markets as far as TikTok users are concerned.

That way back may come in the form of investment from Indian firm Reliance, according to a report from TechCrunch.

It is believed that talks between ByteDance and the Indian conglomerate began in late June, but there is yet a deal to be hashed out. Unnamed sources tell the publication that valuation of TikTok, which sits at an estimated $3 billion thanks to its 200 million users in the country, is what any sort of deal will hinge upon.

At the time of writing, neither party have offered comments on the situation. There is also the small matter of Microsoft’s desire to purchase TikTok‘s business in specific regions, with the US being the major one, also being a factor to consider.

The US firm has set a deadline for 15th August for a deal to be ironed out, which means we should know what the fate of TikTok will be Stateside over the weekend.

Shifting back to ByteDance and Reliance, any such deal coming to the fore will also impact the Indian employees currently working for the Chinese company.

Added to this is whether the Indian government would give the green light on such a deal, but TechCrunch does note the relationship between Reliance’s owner, Mukesh Ambani, and Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, could help the situation.

Unlike the Microsoft acquisition talks, there has been no official deadline set for a deal to be struck. Either way, with geopolitical tensions between India and China ratcheting up, it should be interesting to see what the talks will yield.

[Source – TechCrunch]
[Image – Photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash]

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