Oracle and Walmart minority partners in TikTok, Trump blesses marriage in principle

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he has approved a deal in principle in which Oracle and Walmart  will partner with the viral video-sharing app TikTok in the U.S., allowing the popular app to avoid a shutdown, CNBC reports.

“I have given the deal my blessing — if they get it done that’s great, if they don’t that’s okay too,” Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn before departing for North Carolina. “I approved the deal in concept.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced it would delay the prohibition of U.S. transactions with TikTok until next Sunday.

Shortly after Trump’s comments, Oracle announced it was chosen as TikTok’s secure cloud provider and will become a minority investor with a 12.5 percent stake. TikTok confirmed Oracle’s role and said it was working with Walmart on a commercial partnership.

Walmart said it has tentatively agreed to a purchase 7.5 percent stake, and Chief Executive Doug McMillon would serve as one of the five board members of the newly created company. 

“In addition, we would work toward an initial public offering of the company in the United States within the next year to bring even more ownership to American citizens,” a Walmart spokesperson said in a statement. 

TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance will own the remaining 80 percent of TikTok, according to a person familiar with the matter. However, because 40 percent of ByteDance is owned by U.S. venture capital firms, the Trump administration can technically claim TikTok Global is now majority owned by U.S. money.

TikTok said it will maintain and expand its headquarters in the U.S., while bringing 25,000 jobs across the country.  Trump had said a new company will likely be incorporated in Texas.