TikTok signed an agreement to sell its American operations to a new American-led joint venture in a move to secure the app’s future in the United States (US), according to a memo by CEO Shou Chew to employees, Anadolu Ajansi said, citing media reports yesterday.

The transaction, which has not yet been finalised, comes in response to a US law passed last year requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest 80 percent of its US assets or face a nationwide ban, according to CNN.