Oracle holds preliminary talks with ByteDance; enters race to buy TikTok

Oracle Corp has held preliminary talks with TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, and was seriously considering buying the app's operations in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday, citing people briefed about the matter.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Twitter Inc had approached ByteDance to express interest in acquiring the U.S. operations of TikTok, while Microsoft Corp was still the favorite to clinch a deal in the race.

Oracle, ByteDance and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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