The social networking and microblogging website Twitter is looking for a buyer. Rumors, however, suggest that Google, Apple and Disney — previously said to be interested in Twitter — will not buy the company.
Launched in 2006, Twitter has become one of the most popular social networking services available. However, rumors have been surfacing for about a month now that Twitter is up for sale. Reports suggest that Twitter wants to finalize negotiations with a suitable partner before Oct. 27 this year, when the site will announce its third quarter financial results.
Salesforce, a company that sells cloud-based customer service software, and also sales and marketing software to enterprises, is said to be a potential purchaser of Twitter. Market experts believe that Salesforce may use Twitter to mine business intelligent data or focus on customer support.
That Jack Dorsey, cofounder and CEO of Twitter, has also been a board member of Disney since 2013, has led to speculations that Disney may take over Twitter.
Google, on the other hand, obviously has a massive internet presence, but the company has struggled to expand on the social media front. Reports suggest that it would make sense for Google to acquire Twitter and make development in the social media industry.
However, a Recode report cites sources familiar with the matter and suggests that big wigs like Apple, Google and Disney may not invest in Twitter.
The microblogging website has millions of global users accessing its services every day. The company notes on its website that it has 313 million monthly active users. Twitter is available in more than 40 languages such as English, Arabic, German, Hindi, Traditional Chinese and more. More than 80 percent of users access the service on a mobile device and about 79 percent of Twitter users are outside the United States.
Although the company has millions of users and its popularity has increased in the past decade, Twitter has struggled in the past few quarters to increase the numbers further.
Twitter went public in 2013 at $26 per share. The share price also reached as high as $74 within a month of trading, but since then the value has steadily plunged.
Many investors want Twitter to be sold. News of Twitter's acquisition details before Oct. 27 has hit the share price even further. On Wednesday, Twitter's share price closed at $24.87 during regular trading hours, which is up by 5.74 percent.
However, in the after-hours of trading, the share price fell by more than 9 percent following the news that Google and Disney would not acquire Twitter.
It remains to be seen if Twitter is able to find the right partner before it announces its third quarter financial results by the end of October.
