Exclusive: Blackstone mulls small stake in US TikTok spinoff, sources say
Exclusive: Blackstone mulls small stake in US TikTok spinoff, sources say
March 28 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Blackstone is evaluating making a small minority investment in TikTok's U.S. operations, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Blackstone is discussing joining Chinese parent company ByteDance's existing non-Chinese shareholders, led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, in contributing fresh capital to bid for TikTok's U.S. business. The group has emerged as front-runners.
Their proposal entails spinning off TikTok's U.S. operations into a separate entity and diluting Chinese ownership in the new business to below the 20% threshold required by U.S. law.
TikTok, General Atlantic, and Blackstone declined to comment. Susquehanna did not respond to a request seeking comment.
The fate of the app used by nearly half of all Americans has been up in the air since a law, passed last year with overwhelming bipartisan support, required ByteDance to divest TikTok by January 19 or face a ban on national security grounds.
