TikTok rival Triller and investment firm Centricus Asset Management have reportedly made a $20 billion offer for the video-sharing app, joining a list of suitors that includes software giant Oracle and a partnership between Microsoft and Walmart.
Triller and Centricus are looking to acquire the assets of TikTok not just in the U.S., but also in Australia, India, and New Zealand, Bloomberg reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
The legitimacy of the report remains in question, as while a Centricus representative confirmed the offer to Bloomberg, TikTok and parent ByteDance have denied that it exists to both Bloomberg and Reuters.
Triller’s executive chairman Bobby Sarnevesht said TikTok was not involved in the talks as it was speaking directly with ByteDance chairman Zhang Yiming.
“We submitted an offer directly to the chairman of ByteDance through Centricus, and have confirmation it was received and is under consideration by him,” Sarnevesht told Reuters.
ByteDance, however, said that it was also unaware of an offer from Triller and Centricus.
The offer will reportedly be funded by Centricus, with TikTok to be run by Triller executives if it comes out on top. However, like with the questions surrounding Twitter‘s rumored bid, it remains unclear how Centricus will secure the necessary resources as it only has $27 billion in assets.
Digital Trends has reached out to TikTok to try to gain clarity over the legitimacy of the offer from Triller and Centricus, and we will update this article as soon as we hear back.
Trump vs. TikTok
President Donald Trump gave ByteDance until November 12 to sell the U.S. assets of TikTok. The executive order also requires ByteDance to destroy all the user data acquired by TikTok and its predecessor Musical.ly.
TikTok, meanwhile, has filed a lawsuit against Trump’s executive order that will ban the app from conducting business in the U.S. The company behind the popular video-sharing app, however, will have to deal with its dispute with Trump without Kevin Mayer, who stepped down as CEO just three months after taking up the position.
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