Recently, media outlets reported that AppLovin is considering purchasing TikTok's assets in the United States. The company has now officially confirmed this.
AppLovin submitted a report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stating that they indeed contacted the president's administration in early April and expressed interest in a deal with ByteDance, the owner of TikTok. They emphasized that there are "no guarantees" that the service will be sold specifically to them.
Soon after this news, AppLovin's shares experienced a significant drop. At the time of writing, they are trading at $261.98 each, which is 9.78% lower than the closing price on the evening of April 3. As a result, the company's market value decreased by nearly $10 billion in a day—from $98.7 billion to $89.06 billion.
However, it is more likely that the reason for the decline in AppLovin's shares is not their interest in acquiring the U.S. TikTok, but rather the ongoing scandal involving potential fraud with advertising tools. In recent hours, several law firms have released press releases reminding investors that a class-action lawsuit had been filed against AppLovin and urging the company's shareholders to seek their services.