Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp, which owns a stake in TikTok’s parent company ByteDance Ltd, is looking into assembling a group of bidders for TikTok’s India assets, reported ETtech, citing people familiar with the matter.
ANY SUCCESS YET?
SoftBank Group Corp, has reportedly been in conversation with India’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and Bharti Airtel Ltd but those discussions have since fizzled out, ETtech’s sources, requesting anonymity, informed them.
Representatives for SoftBank, ByteDance, Reliance and Bharti Airtel declined to comment have not made any comment in the matter yet.
TikTok has been attempting to sell its operations in multiple countries.
WHERE ELSE HAS SOFT BANK PARTICIPATED IN TIKTOK’S NEGOTIATIONS?
According to ETtech, SoftBank, in the United States, brought in Walmart Inc as the main investor in a group of bidders. This group also included Google parent company Alphabet Inc.
However, that plan didn’t work out either as Trump administration demanded that a US technology company lead the investment and Google pulled out, ETtech’s sources said. Walmart, thereby, joined a bid led by Microsoft Corp.
Which group SoftBank is currently working with in US is not very clear at the moment, informed ETtech.
WHICH OTHER INDIAN INVESTMENTS HAS SOFTBANK BEEN INVOLVED IN?
SoftBank’s founder Mayoshi Son has backed multiple local start-ups including Snapdeal.com, Ola Cabs, Oyo Rooms and Lenskart.
According to ETtech, SoftBank, along with Enterprises Pvt. and Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Co, is also part of solar power joint venture.
In 2018, Mayoshi Son reportedly helped Walmart find its way to India.
BACKGROUND
Mayoshi Son has reportedly sold assets worth $42 billion.
The government had on 29 June, announced a ban on 59 apps, all of them Chinese-owned, including the hugely popular TikTok. According to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Electronics & IT, the banned apps had “engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.”
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