ByteDance failed to seal a deal to offload the US arm of its TikTok service by a deadline of 4 December, but sources told multiple news outlets the Chinese company won’t face penalties because talks with authorities were close to bearing fruit.

Reuters reported the US Department of the Treasury waived penalties for the missed deadline due to ByteDance being locked in talks with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) regarding a plan to offload the unit to a consortium comprising Oracle and Walmart.

The administration of President Donald Trump is keen to settle the matter before the handover of power to President-elect Joe Biden on 20 January, Bloomberg stated.

Trump originally ordered the sale in August due to national security concerns, with ByteDance agreeing the sale to Oracle in September.

But an original deadline of 12 November set by the president was extended while ByteDance thrashed out the details of the agreement with US authorities: a series of further extensions pushed the mooted completion date to 4 December.