TikTok finalises US spin-off deal to maintain operations

WASHINGTON: TikTok finalised a deal to spin off its United States operations into a new joint venture, ensuring the video application remains accessible to its 200 million American users. The move concludes a multi-year legal and political dispute regarding national security and data privacy.

According to a press release, the new entity includes significant equity stakes from a consortium of global investors and the original parent company. The agreement specifies that tech giant Oracle, UAE-based MGX, and investment firm Silver Lake each hold a 15 per cent stake in the new venture. ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, retains a 19.9 per cent share.

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This restructuring follows a 2024 law passed by Congress with bipartisan support that mandated TikTok divest from ByteDance or face a total ban in the United States. While the Supreme Court upheld the law, the current administration provided a window for the deal to materialise after a brief 14-hour service interruption in early 2025.

The company stated in its press release that the new joint venture “will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users.”

Beyond the flagship video platform, the scope of this deal extends to other assets within the ByteDance ecosystem. The TikTok press release says the joint venture “will also cover other apps in the ByteDance portfolio, including CapCut and Lemon8.” This inclusion ensures that the secondary applications used for video editing and social sharing also comply with the newly established security protocols and ownership structure required by United States regulators.

Earlier in December, TikTok signed the deal backed by US President Donald Trump to sell its US assets to a group of American investors, CEO Shou Chew told employees in a memo, as per CNN. Although the transaction was not then complete, the move brought TikTok one step closer to securing its long-term future in the United States.

Trump signed an executive order on September 26, clearing the way for the completion of a deal to sell TikTok’s US assets to a consortium of mostly American investors. (ANI)