Twitter reportedly in talks with tech companies for sale, Google, Salesforce in race

CALIFORNIA, U.S. - Twitter Inc is understood to have initiated talks with a host of technology companies to explore options of a sale, a move that is unlikely to stun investors or its millions of users, as the micro-blogging giant grapples with mounting losses and waning popularity.

A number of high-profile companies, including Internet giant Google and customer relationship management company Salesforce, have reportedly expressed interest to acquire Twitter.

Twitter co-founder and board member Ev Williams had recently fueled speculations of a sale, when he said in an interview that the company has "to consider the right options.” 

Shares of the social media giant soared on the news, gaining over 21 percent in early trading on Friday. Both Google and Salesforce shares were down, suggesting their investors did not show much interest in Twitter's prospects. 

Twitter went public in November 2013 at roughly $26 a share. The stock rose above $74 just over a month after its initial public offering, but has been losing steam since. 

The ten-year-old messaging platform that slowly evolved into a potent source of news, entertainment and social commentary, has been battling for long with uninspiring user growth, soft advertising sales and losses running into hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

In the three months ended June, the company’s revenue grew by $100 million to $602 million, but it posted a $107-million loss. 

Twitter's astronomical price tag, however, might deal a blow to several potential buyers, even the big-ticket ones. Analysts estimate that Jack Dorsey's company could be demanding a whopping $30 billion, at least.

Experts have flagged concern that if Twitter delays the sale, negotiating too hard for the best price, it could risk a similar fate as that of another technology major, Yahoo Inc. The latter was eventually sold for a meagre fraction of its peak valuation, after months of strategic talks with buyers.

Notably, Yahoo, which once had a market capitalisation of nearly $125 billion, agreed to sell to Verizon for $4.8 billion, this after turning down a Microsoft offer of $42 billion in 2008.