D-Day for a TikTok deal is nearBoth Microsoft — with an unexpected new partner — and a consortium led by Oracle have submitted bids to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations, The Times’s Mike Isaac reports. Walmart’s teaming up with Microsoft is the latest surprise in the complex deal talks. The retail giant could provide a significant e-commerce component for TikTok while Microsoft handles the crucial cloud-computing infrastructure needed to run a major social network. • “It’s a way to offer customers a hyperpersonalized experience in both content and commerce,” Deborah Weinswig of the data firm Coresight Research told Bloomberg. • The move is another effort by Walmart to reshape its business and take on Amazon through M.&A.

Source: New York Times August 28, 2020 12:11 UTC