Bytedance accepted a deal for Tiktok stores in the US

Chinese Bytedance, the owner of the video sharing service Tiktok, has signed agreements to sell a significant part of its US unit to a joint venture formed by US investors.

It’s news Axiosafter which the news agency Reuters and the news channel CNN also got hold of a memorandum about the matter.

The contract is scheduled to be finalized on January 22. The signing of the agreement means that Tiktok’s continued operation in the United States is increasingly likely.

Stateside passed a law last year that requires the US version of Tiktok to be separated from parent company Bytedance in order to operate in the US. The fact that the popular video service is under Chinese control has raised national security concerns.

Banning the Chinese-owned Tiktok in the United States has been planned since 2020, when the president Donald Trump in his first season tried to deny it. Trump has continued as president in his second term Joe Biden period until January 23, 2026.

In September, Trump said that he had agreed with China that the US version of Tiktok can be sold to US majority ownership.

Now has signed binding agreements with technology company Oracle, investment company Silver Lake and UAE-backed investment company MGX, according to Reuters.

The agreement establishes a joint venture, of which the respective companies own a total of 50 percent. In addition, subsidiaries of a number of current investors are to own 30.1 percent of it, and Bytedance is to be left with 19.9 percent.