China appears to have signed off on a TikTok deal that would spin out the app’s US business to a mostly US-led investor consortium, with an announcement described as imminent.
People familiar with the matter said the transaction is set to close this week, capping a yearslong dispute that has repeatedly stalled on regulatory approval and national security concerns.
The buyer group is led by Oracle and Silver Lake, according to the deal terms described, with additional investors including Susquehanna, Dragoneer, DFO, and Michael Dell’s family office.
Under the new structure, ByteDance would retain just under 20% of the US business. Three investors would each hold 15% stakes: Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, a UAE state-owned investment firm focused on AI.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew said in December that ByteDance had already signed a binding agreement with investors, but that regulators had not yet indicated approval and that there was “more work to be done.”
Chew also described the governance framework in a December memo, stating the new independent entity would control data protection, content moderation, and algorithm security, and would be “governed by a new seven-member majority-American board of directors.”
The timing is tied to a Jan. 22 deadline cited as part of a Trump administration executive order that provided a 120-day stay on enforcement of a federal ban.
The ban risk traces back to a 2024 law signed by former President Joe Biden that required ByteDance to divest TikTok’s US business or face a US ban, citing national security concerns.
READ: White House Signals Deal To Keep TikTok in US, But Algorithm Could Remain Chinese
The consideration paid to ByteDance for the US business was not disclosed. Vice President JD Vance said in September that the deal would value the US unit at roughly $14 billion.
Separately, it remains unclear what negotiations concluded around TikTok’s algorithm, which has been described as the key point of contention between the US and Chinese governments and the factor that derailed previous deal efforts.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US said, “China’s position on TikTok has been consistent and clear. I have nothing new to share at the moment.”
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