ByteDance in Talks With SoftBank, Glance to Sell its Indian TikTok Assets: Report

The development comes months after India banned hundreds of Chinese apps including TikTok citing threat to India’s security and sovereignty.

New Delhi: After getting banned permanently in India from playing its apps, ByteDance is said to be exploring a sale of the India operations of TikTok to rival unicorn Glance, media reports suggested on Saturday.

Notably, the talks have already started by Japan’s SoftBank Group Corporation conglomerate. SoftBank is a backer of Glance’s parent InMobi Pte as well as TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance. The talks are happening between SoftBank, ByteDance and Glance and any deal will need a final seal of approval from Indian authorities.

The development comes months after India banned hundreds of Chinese apps including TikTok citing threat to India’s security and sovereignty.

At this time, SoftBank is trying to salvage TikTok’s India assets and had been hunting for local partners even as the new US government has put on hold the unwinding of the American operations of the popular short video platform.

If the talks with the stakeholders go well, the Indian government will insist that user data and technology of TikTok stay within its borders. It is mainly because relations between New Delhi and Beijing remain strained because of the Galwan Valley incident.

After the Indian government indicated the ban on Chinese apps was permanent, ByteDance started unwinding its local operations, firing hundreds of Indian employees, many of whom have since gravitated to homegrown rivals.