Google, Microsoft, and several other tech firms are all respectively mulling over a complete buyout of Twitter, according to a new report.
CNBC reports that Twitter has received “expressions of interest” regarding an acquisition from several companies, including Alphabet – Google’s parent company. Another prospective suitor is Salesforce, a cloud-computing company based in California.
According to the report, Twitter’s board of directors are “largely desirous” of the deal, but that a sale isn’t imminent. There’s also no guarantee that a deal will go ahead, but that ongoing conversations “could result in a deal before year end”. Google is reportedly interested in the data that Twitter generates, as well as its positioning as a media company.
Meanwhile, a separate report by TechCrunch links both Microsoft and Verizon (despite its ongoing Yahoo acquisition) to a potential Twitter buyout, and notes: "What we’re hearing about the Microsoft interest is that it, in part, is an attempt by the company to drive the price up and keep it out of Salesforce’s hands."
Google hasn’t commented on either report, but shortly after CNBC went live, Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce, tweeted:
He then followed that tweet up with a second post:
Twitter launched back in March 2006, and has since ballooned to become one of the biggest social networks on the planet, reaching 313 million active users each month. The company employs nearly 4,000 staff, and turned over $2.21 billion in revenue last year, with a profit of $521 million. Twitter’s current valuation on the stock market is just over $16 billion, although this value doesn’t necessarily reflect an acquisition value. And if Google did pay $16 billion for Twitter, it would still fall short of Facebook’s $22 billion WhatsApp purchase back in 2014.
When asked about whether the company was open to acquisition In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Twitter co-founder and board member Ev Williams said: "We’re in a strong position now, and as a board member we have to consider the right options."
We've asked Twitter for comment, and will update this article with any response.
