US lawmakers are pushing TikTok to sell its US business, but experts say it doesn’t have many viable buyers.

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The Biden administration and CFIUS are pushing for a sale of TikTok in the US.
Analysts said a few companies like Microsoft, Oracle, and private-equity firms are likely buyers.
The Chinese government could also block a TikTok sale outright before bidding kicks off.

US officials are demanding that TikTok divest its American business from its Chinese owners in a move that some believe would reduce its potential risk to national security. 

But the list of companies that would actually consider buying TikTok is small, experts told Insider.

The app would cost more than most companies would be willing to spend, particularly during an economic downturn, with analysts estimating that the price tag for its US assets could fall anywhere between $40 billion and $100 billion. One viable option could be a sale to a private-equity firm or consortium of firms, which would keep TikTok as a standalone company and could take it public via an initial-public offering, a few analysts said. 

Experts also noted that big tech companies that already run social-media businesses, such as YouTube parent Google Inc. or Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram, would be less inclined to bid because they would face antitrust scrutiny for buying a competitor. 

“We’re talking about a pretty big price tag, and so who would actually be able to buy it?” Bernstein’s senior analyst Mark Shmulik told Insider. “It can’t be somebody like Google because they have YouTube, which would be being anticompetitive. It certainly can’t be Meta. You’re left with, who’s got the pockets to go do so?”

Of course, China could block the path to any sale of TikTok’s US assets before bidding even starts.

Big tech companies could acquire TikTok, but it didn’t work …read more

Source:: Businessinsider