Microsoft's offer to buy TikTok rejected; Oracle likely to partner

Microsoft on Sunday said its offer to buy TikTok has been rejected, with reports suggesting coming Oracle and Bytedance are likely to notch a deal.

"ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok's US operations to Microsoft," the US tech giant, in a statement, said, adding that their proposal was would have been "good" for TikTok users while "protecting national security interests".

Earlier, Microsoft was amongst the major contenders to buy TikTok after US President Donald Trump last month gave a deadline to the video-platform company of September 15 to get sold or be banned.

The Washington Post reported that ByteDance has chosen Oracle as a "technology partner" and news agency Reuters quoted a source, claiming there would be a restructuring rather than a sale, with Oracle responsible for handling TikTok's data of US users.

Reuters also reported that Walmart is still interested in investing in TikTok and discussions with ByteDance have been ongoing.