The social media platform, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, has been under threat in the US ever since President Donald Trump announced it would face a national ban unless a US-based firm purchased it. The president issued a time frame of just three months for a purchase to be made.
As such, companies have scrambled to enter discussions with ByteDance ahead of the November 12th deadline.
In the corporate world, transactions and mergers between companies can typically take several years under normal circumstances.
Stocks in Walmart hit a 52-week high of $139.35 on the news, bringing the firm’s market cap to around $387 billion, CNBC reports.
In a statement, Walmart said: “We believe a potential relationship with TikTok U.S. in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses.
“We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US, TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of U.S. government regulators.
“The way TikTok has integrated e-commerce and advertising capabilities in other markets is a clear benefit to creators and users in those markets.”
Any deal with ByteDance will see the winning firm acquire the operations of TikTok in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
READ: TikTok bombshell: Donald Trump to be sued by controversial Chinese video app
Meanwhile, international software firm Oracle has entered discussions to purchase TikTok in competition to Microsoft and Walmart.
The details of the offers being put forward for TikTok are not known – though analysts think the app could be worth anywhere between $20 billion and $50 billion.
Microsoft – now couple with Walmart – has been considered the most likely buyer. Its market cap stands at $1.7 trillion.
However, the Guardian reports Oracle may have one advantage in that its co-founder Larry Ellison is a public Donald Trump supporter.
Oracle is perhaps best known as the owner of the Java programming language, but the company is less consumer-facing than Microsoft is.
Oracle’s market cap is valued at $175.5 billion. The firm’s share prices appear to have risen on the news it is in talks with ByteDance.