Source: London-based investment firm Centricus and Triller seek to buy TikTok's US, AU, NZ, and India operations for $20B; TikTok says it hasn't received a bid
This lands mid-sprint in the 2020 forced-divestiture saga: Microsoft had been reported just weeks earlier as pursuing all of TikTok's global operations, India and Europe included, while ByteDance's US backers were floating a ~$50B valuation on an app projected to book about $1B in 2020 revenue (per Reuters reporting). CNBC had already flagged a sale of the US, Canada, Australia, and NZ businesses at $20B-$30B within days.
What is new here is the bidder profile: Centricus, a London investment firm with little consumer-internet track record, teaming with Triller — itself a short-video rival — to bid for the US, AU, NZ, and India assets. TikTok's flat statement that it has not received a bid underscores that ByteDance, not the suitors, is controlling the process; two days later CNBC reported a buyer was already chosen (expected at $20B-$30B).
First-order effects
Triller, a direct competitor in short-form video, is attempting to leapfrog its scale problem by acquiring the market leader's Western assets rather than out-building them.
TikTok's denial that any bid arrived puts Centricus and Triller outside the process CNBC reports has already converged on a chosen buyer.
Second-order effects
The $20B ask sits well below the ~$50B figure ByteDance's US investors were using privately, so competing bidders are effectively negotiating against each other downward while ByteDance keeps the $20B-$30B auction frame intact.
India's inclusion matters because the app was already sidelined there — bundling it into the perimeter shows sellers marketing impaired assets alongside healthy ones to reach a headline price.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, geopolitically forced divestitures become a standing asset class where financial buyers like Centricus — not strategic tech acquirers like the Microsoft bid — set the clearing prices for nationalized platforms.
That dynamic proved durable: five years on, Blackstone was still evaluating a minority stake in TikTok's US operations alongside ByteDance's non-Chinese shareholders, evidence that ownership questions raised in 2020 never fully resolved.
The trend: Politically driven divestitures of Chinese-owned apps are turning marquee social platforms into financial-buyer deal targets, with ownership questions lingering unresolved for years.
Breaking: Centricus and Triller are seeking to buy TikTok assets in the U.S. and other countries for $20 billion. on @TheTerminal
@gregroumeliotis
Greg Roumeliotis on x
This Triller bid for TikTok's assets is a crazy story https://www.reuters.com/...
@bhadrasandeep
Sandeep Bhadra on x
This is not a David vs. Goliath story. It's more a David gets on his knees and pops the question to Goliath story. https://twitter.com/...
@thekenyeung
Ken Yeung on x
TikTok refutes claims that it has received an acquisition offer from Centricius and Triller. https://www.reuters.com/...
@adrianweckler
Adrian Weckler on x
At this point, saying that you're bidding for TikTok may amount to PR stunt. (We'll soon stop reporting the claimed bids.) https://www.reuters.com/...
@chetanp
Chetan Puttagunta on x
Triller, reportedly valued at $1B, is partnering with a PE firm to bid $20B for TikTok. Similarly, it's time for $83B Zoom to buy $1.7T Microsoft.
@martinsfp
Martin Sfp Bryant on x
I'm baffled by how so little is made of the SplitTok issue: buying only part of TikTok is massively impractical unless European TikTok is going to be completely separate, with no exchange of data at all, as it would be still owned by ByteDance. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@korndiddy
Zach Kornfeld on x
Can everyone back off plz I already said I'll buy tiktok. https://twitter.com/...
@kenli729
Kenneth Li on x
“When asked about a Centricus and Triller bid, a TikTik spokesman replied, “What's Triller?” https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @technology
@sarahfrier
Sarah Frier on x
Centricus submitted a bid to Beijing-based ByteDance for TikTok's assets in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and India, and would be made up of $10 billion in cash up front and $10 billion in profit-sharing from the resulting venture: https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@technology
@technology on x
Centricus Asset Management is seeking to buy TikTok's U.S. operations for $20 billion, partnering with Triller, another video-based social networking app https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@gilliantan
Gillian Tan on x
Big scoop from @DNair5: Centricus & Triller have entered the race for TikTok's US business https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@turnernovak
Turner Novak on x
Triller had ~700k US DAU's at the end of July per Apptopia TikTok recently disclosed ~50 million US DAU's https://twitter.com/...
@alexeheath
Alex Heath on x
good luck https://twitter.com/...
@thekenyeung
Ken Yeung on x
Because why not? https://twitter.com/...
@taylorlorenz
Taylor Lorenz on x
Another one in the mix https://twitter.com/...
@ruskin147
Rory Cellan-Jones on x
At this point I shall be making no comment on speculative reports that I am involved in a bid for TikTok https://twitter.com/...