ByteDance might sell Indian TikTok assets to rival firm Glance, reports Bloomberg

ByteDance took the call to exit India after reducing its 2,000-plus team here in January and now might be looking to sell the assets.

These drastic decisions were made after the Indian government decided to retain the ban on TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps following responses from them all on issues related to compliance and privacy. (AFP)

China's ByteDance is reportedly exploring the sale of the TikTok India operations to rival unicorn Glance. Bloomberg reports that the discussions, that were initiated by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, are private, complex and in its very early stages. The Bloomberg report cites people familiar with the matter. 

Glance is ideally no stranger to short-videos. InMobi, Glance's parent company also owns short-video app Roposo that got popular in Indian after TikTok was banned by the government in July last year. 

SoftBank backs inMobi and TikTok parent ByteDance as well, reports Reuters and neither of the companies have responded to any queries regarding these discussions yet. 

ByteDance took the call to exit India after reducing its 2,000-plus team here in January. 

ByteDance's interim global head, Vanessa Pappas, wrote a letter to its employees informing them about the company's downsizing plans.

“As you can imagine, the magnitude of this decision is not easy. For the last several months, our management team has worked tirelessly to avoid having to separate anyone from the company. We've cut expenses, while still paying benefits. However, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while our apps remain un-operational," Pappas wrote.

These drastic decisions were made after the Indian government decided to retain the ban on TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps following responses from them all on issues related to compliance and privacy. 

According to reports, the Indian government is going to insist that TikTok user data and tech stay within the country's borders if the talks progress.