Financial Times: The White House is close to approving the TikTok US deal, with new investors including a16z and Blackstone Group.

According to ChainCatcher, multiple informed sources revealed to the Financial Times that a group of new external investors, including a16z, Blackstone Group, Silver Lake Partners, and other large private equity firms, will own approximately half of TikTok's U.S. operations under the terms of the deal. These sources stated that the U.S. business will be spun off from its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance. TikTok's existing major investors, including General Atlantic, Susquehanna, KKR, and Coatue, will also hold about 30% of the U.S. operations. According to those involved in the process, these plans are still in preliminary stages and may change. This was established ahead of the April 5 legal deadline in the U.S., which states that unless the Beijing owners sell to a non-Chinese entity, the application will be banned in the U.S. Officials from President Trump’s administration are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss the negotiation status, with multiple sources indicating that an announcement could come soon if the president grants approval. A White House spokesperson stated, "Any statements regarding TikTok will be made by President Trump." One source warned that the situation remains unstable, and the White House may suddenly change its plans. Under the terms of the deal, ByteDance will retain less than 20% of the business shares to comply with U.S. legislation stipulating that "foreign adversaries" cannot control more than one-fifth of the shares. Informed sources added that the plan will require several months of further due diligence, structural adjustments, and other corporate financing commitments, which is typical of normal acquisition processes, and the structure may change, with some equity supporters potentially increasing or decreasing their proposed investments. One source indicated that these groups will have three to four months to complete the divestiture process.