Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff denied rumors that his company is interested in acquiring Twitter, noting that the microblogging site is not "the right fit."
Rumors of a Twitter sale have been making rounds recently and Salesforce was reported to be among the potential suitors, but it now seems that Salesforce is not interested in Twitter after all.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Benioff refuted claims that Salesforce would make a bid to acquire Twitter. Benioff's confirmation comes as no big surprise, however, as reports surfaced last week that Salesforce was rethinking its purported plans to acquire Twitter.
Investors were also against such an acquisition, and advised Salesforce CFO Mark Hawkins and other company executives during a conference last week that a Twitter takeover would not be a good idea. The sentiment of disapproval regarding this deal has not been very subtle and Hawkins even received emails from high-profile investors who opposed the deal.
Although recent reports and speculations hinted at no deal, this is the first time that Benioff has publicly confirmed that Salesforce will not be making a bid to acquire Twitter.
With this latest confirmation, Twitter's future looks a bit uncertain for now. Potential suitors were rumored to include Google, Salesforce and Walt Disney Co., but all of these companies have indicated that they are not interested in an acquisition anymore.
Twitter shares dropped earlier this week on news of potential buyers losing interest in the acquisition, and Benioff's latest statement now adds more fuel to the fire. Following the news, Twitter shares dropped by more than 5 percent in active trading, while Salesforce shares jumped 5 percent.
Earlier speculation indicated that Salesforce could be looking to mine the microblogging site's tweet database and use it for business intelligence, which made sense. At the same time, acquiring Twitter would also entail a major investment and Salesforce has already made a number of high-profile acquisitions recently.
Benioff did not specify exactly what made Salesforce drop interest in a Twitter deal, but he did hint at the company's reasoning.
"You're going to look at price, you're going to look at culture, you're going to look at everything," the Salesforce CEO told the Financial Times.
With the biggest purported suitors out of the race, Twitter's trajectory remains in question. While some believe that the company could manage just fine by operating as an independent venture, others question any future growth Twitter might achieve if it remains as it is.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey returned at the helm of the company last year to turn it around and restore its glory, but Twitter's sluggish growth has not gone unobserved on the tech scene.
It remains to be seen how things will unfold, but we'll keep you up to date with any new developments as soon as they come to light.
