The US retail giant Walmart will join Microsoft to make a bid for the US operations of TikTok, the company said.
Walmart told the BBC it thought an agreement with the TikTok would assist it expand its operations.
TikTok has been given 90 days to sell its US arm to an American firm or face a prohibit in the country. Donald Trump has alleged it shares its user data with Beijing – claims it denies.
Earlier yesterday, TikTok’s CEO quits ahead of the impending prohibition.
Confirming that the company was pursuing an agreement, a Walmart spokesperson told the BBC: “We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators.”
Microsoft, which confirmed at the beginning of this month that it was in talks with TikTok, told the BBC it had “nothing to share at this time”.
With Walmart, which owns UK supermarket chain Asda, it will now go up against other prospective bidders, including the US tech giant Oracle.
As stated by reports, TikTok’s US operations could fetch as much as $30bn (£22bn) if an agreement is made.
Since its global launch at the end of 2018 Tiktok has attracted a huge following, especially among them who are younger than 25 years old.
The app lets its followers make short videos, with the help of an extensive database of songs and wide range of filters.
