ByteDance may sell TikTok's India business to Glance Digital Experience

Months after the government banned popular short video sharing app TikTok, parent ByteDance is planning to sell its India operations to rival unicorn Glance Digital Experience.

TikTok’s potential partner, Bengaluru-headquartered Glance Digital Experience is a mobile content platform started by Harvard Business School alum Naveen Tewari. He is the founder of InMobi, India’s first unicorn. Roposo, Glance’s short video sharing platform saw a massive growth spurt after the TikTok ban and it became a unicorn in December after securing backing of Google and billionaire Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital.

Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp had initiated the discussions between the two firms. However, the talks are private it is said. SoftBank is a backer of Glance’s parent InMobi Pte as well as TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance.

Any deal between SoftBank, Glance’s parent InMobi Pte and ByteDance will need approval from the Indian authorities.

In 2020, the Ministry of Electronics and IT banned TikTok and 118 more Chinese apps including PUBG mobile game amid a stand-off between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) following the Galwan valley clash.

The ban was imposed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act after learning that the apps are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.

With India-China tensions growing strong, SoftBank has been looking for local partners in India for ByteDance's TikTok operations. However, China’s new rules around export of technology may make the negotiations even more intricate as any sale of TikTok could need approval from Chinese authorities

Before it was banned in India, TikTok had hit over 200 million users. However, following the ban, ByteDance had to start unwinding its local operations which resulted in the firing of hundreds of Indian employees.