Early today, we reported that Microsoft may announce the TikTok acquisition deal in the next 48-hours. TikTok is planning to sell its U.S., Canadian, Australian and New Zealand operations for about $20 billion to $30 billion range.

Now, Walmart has confirmed that it is partnering with Microsoft to acquire TikTok. Walmart believes that TikTok’s integration of e-commerce and advertising will be a clear benefit to creators and users in those markets. You can read Walmart’s statement below.

“We believe a potential relationship with TikTok US in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses. We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators.”

As you can infer from Walmart’s statement, Microsoft is not bidding alone for TikTok, instead it will be partnering with Walmart. To compete with Microsoft-Walmart’s bid, Oracle is working with Softbank with interesting proposition.

Walmart shares are up 5.19% in the stock market after CNBC reported this news.

Source: CNBC