Among several technology companies, Google and cloud computing company Salesforce could be potential suitors who might place a bid for Twitter. Google has been connected over the past year to a potential purchase of the social media company.
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According to reports in the U.S., Twitter is on the verge of being sold and Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, is among the main companies interested in buying it.
Twitter, which is struggling to add new users amid stalled growth, now has a market value of almost $16 billion.
Last month, co-founder and board member Ev Williams told Bloomberg TV that the company was “in a strong position” and open to considering a takeover.
The suitor many feel is best positioned to take a run at Twitter is Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM).
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Salesforce declined to comment on the reports. Salesforce was interested in buying LinkedIn before Microsoft stepped in to seal the deal, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company has been dealing with slowing user growth and revenue, but has also branched out into new content areas, most notably with its deal to live-stream Thursday night National Football League games this fall. Shares jumped 20 percent to $22.46 per share on Friday. However, its chief digital evangelist Vala Afshar tweeted his personal views favoring Twitter.
Twitter’s market value is appraised at more than 23 billion dollars.
Twitter probably needs a sale to happen by year end before it becomes “very clear” that it’s heading for ex-growth, he noted. Google aspires to be the main provider of information, and the rise of social media in the form of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and others has created a massive source of new data that is mostly out of the reach of its search engine.
Co-founder Jack Dorsey took over as chief executive in July of a year ago after the previous boss, Dick Costolo stepped down.
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The platform recently made changes to its 140-character limit centrepiece, confirming that images and other media would no longer count towards the limit.
