Reliance Reportedly in Talks to Invest in TikTok’s India Operations
Aug. 13, 2020Reliance Industries Limited is in talks with Chinese tech giant ByteDanceto invest in TikTok’s operations in India, reportsTechCrunchciting two people familiar with the matter. According to the report, the companies started early discussions in late July. However, as perTechCrunch, thetech giants have not reached a dealthus far.
The news comes just a couple of weeks afterMicrosoft revealed its plansto potentially acquire TikTok’s US operations. Another report onFinancial Timesrevealed that the Redmond giant may takeover TikTok’s global business too.
Due to the uncertainty of TikTok’s future in India, thecompany’s workforce is said to be falling apart. Notably,TechCrunch‘s sources say ByteDance-owned Helo’s India head Rohan Mishra and other top executives left the company in recent weeks. ByteDance, however, is in talks with the Indian government to resolve security concerns.
As you might be aware, theIndian government banned TikTok in Indiaalongside 58 other Chinese apps in the last week of June. Before the ban,TikTok had over 200 million usersand was reportedly valued at over $3 billion. TikTok is alsofacing a similar situationwith its US operations.
If ByteDance’s deal with Reliance bears fruit, itcould possibly mean the comeback of TikTokin the country. On the other hand, that would be another way for Reliance to expand its presence in India. Ever since TikTok got banned in India, several TikTok clones have emerged and gained massive traction. If TikTok ever gets unbanned in India, it will be interesting to see ifTikTok-like appswould manage to co-exist.
Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.
