Twitter has initiated talks with several technology companies to explore selling itself, signalling the start of what is likely to be a slow-rolling auction of the high-profile but money-losing social media company.
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Twitter has added 9 million monthly users, 1 million of those in the United States, since co-founder Jack Dorsey was brought back in July 2015 as chief executive to save the almost decade-old company, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Citing unnamed sources, Re-code said Twitter is seeking a deal worth at least $30 billion.
TechCrunch reports that Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, and Verizon are all potentially interested in bidding to acquire Twitter, though nothing is nailed down at this point.
The benefit of taking over from Twitter is that the user base is already present on a platform that’s unique and popular.
(-) ENPH, Announces plans to idle 11% of global workforce as part of a company-wide restructuring expected to save about $20 mln yearly. In fact, Salesforce tried to buy LinkedIn, but was outbid by Microsoft.
Twitter shares jumped more than 19 per cent to $22.22 per share on Friday, marking the largest one-day rise since their first day of trading in 2013. Sources say Twitter’s board is keen to sell, and the company’s shareholders seem to agree.
Salesforce’s chief digital evangelist, Vala Afshar, tweeted on Friday: “Why @twitter?”.
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Google and Microsoft have struggled to compete in the social media space. That makes sense: though the company has pumped resources into new efforts like social video, its user growth has stalled and revenue has fallen in the two years since CEO Jack Dorsey took the helm. Facebook, in contrast, grew its monthly users in the same time-frame by 164 million. Recent moves to be a big player in live video, including a deal to broadcast National Football League games, are too new to be reflected in user growth or ad sales. The stock closed Thursday at $18.63.
