ByteDance mulling potential sales of its Indian TikTok assets

ByteDance is reported to be exploring a good sales of the India operations of TikTok to rival unicorn Glance, in an attempt to resuscitate the once-thriving brief video sharing application that’s been banned indefinitely found in the South Asian country.

The discussions have already been initiated by Japan’s SoftBank Group conglomerate, according to sources who said talks are early and complex. SoftBank is definitely a backer of Glance’s parent InMobi in addition to TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance.

The discussions involve several sides, the sources explained. The talks happen to be between SoftBank, ByteDance and Glance and any package will desire a final press from Indian authorities. India banned a large number of Chinese applications including TikTok this past year following extreme hostility on the India-China border.

SoftBank and ByteDance didn’t react to emails seeking comment outside of business hours. A Glance spokesman declined to comment.

SoftBank has been wanting to salvage TikTok’s India assets and had been trying to find local partners even as the new US administration put on contain the unwinding of the American functions of the favorite short video program, asking a government judge to pause a good lawsuit after former President Donald Trump banned it.

If the talks improvement, the Indian government will insist that user data and technology of TikTok stay within its borders, said the sources.

China’s new rules around export of technology try to make the negotiations even more intricate, and any sale of TikTok may need acceptance from Chinese authorities.

The dramatic reversal in TikTok’s fortunes came last summer following the iPhone app had hit over 200 million users in India, its biggest market. The Indian authorities cited threats to its sovereignty and protection to outlaw a slew of Chinese applications like the artificial intelligence-motivated TikTok, and previous month indicated the ban was long term. ByteDance after that started unwinding its localized operations, firing a huge selection of Indian employees, a lot of whom possess since gravitated to homegrown rivals.

TikTok’s potential mate, Bangalore-headquartered Glance Digital Encounter is a mobile content program started by Harvard Organization University alum Naveen Tewari. He is the founder of InMobi, India’s first unicorn. Glance’s short video recording sharing platform - 20-month-older Roposo - saw an enormous growth spurt following the TikTok ban, and it started to be a unicorn in December after a financing rounded by Google and billionaire Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital.

Dozens of short video iphone app rivals mushroomed found in India following the TikTok ban, which accelerated Glance and Roposo’s progress and pushed an individual base to over 130 million.