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Twitter is shopping for a buyer

According to CNBC, that could well happen, after sources close to the company said that Google, Salesforce and other technology companies are “engaged in conversations” with the social media giant over a possible sale. In the end, a deal by the end of the year could be the social company’s saving grace.

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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. Google has been connected over the past year to a potential purchase of the social media company. But CNBC notes buyers may be as interested in Twitter as much for the massive amounts of data it generates as anything else. Expressions of interest in Twitter were reported by several sources, including CNBC, but no sale is thought to be imminent.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “From a strategic standpoint, we think it would be more beneficial for Alphabet as opposed to Salesforce”, an analyst at Independent Investment Research firm Morningstar said. However, Salesforce chief digital evangelist Vala Afshar expressed his love for Twitter earlier. The 10-year old platform still hasn’t turned a profit. 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. That’s a slower growth rate than Facebook, which has more than 1.5 billion monthly active users, an increase of more than 300 million from 2014.

“The hope for investors would be that under the wing of a big company, it could expand its user base and better monetise those users”.

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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.

Google, Salesforce and Verizon in the frame for Twitter acquisition