Buyers queuing up to buy Twitter; Disney, Microsoft included

Buyers queuing up to buy Twitter; Disney, Microsoft included

Twitter

MUMBAI: Is Twitter up for sale? If the mounting media reports are to be believed, it most likely is. A queue of potential buyers is reportedly is lining up at its corporate doors. Among them: salesforce.com, Alphabet (google’s parent), Microsoft and Disney.

Analysts say that it is no surprise that Twitter is in the market for buyers. It has been under tremendous pressure to find revenue streams what with the rising power of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other social media outlets.

Says an industry observer: “They received interest offer from salesforce.com and then probably Jack Dorsey, its CEO, and the board probably decided to pursue it as a strategy to see where it could lead to, and they have been fielding enquiries. For a media company, a Twitter acquisition makes sense as there are not too many companies on the social side out there with a subscriber base of 300 million. This is a good opportunity for them to make a play.”

Salesforce.com is reportedly working with Bank of America on a potential bid while Disney is working with a financial advisor to evaluate whether they should throw their hat in the ring, says a Bloomberg report.

Bloomberg appears to be betting on Disney being the front-runner. Reason: both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Dorsey are pretty close. Dorsey is on the Disney board along with Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg. And, Iger has been mentoring Dorsey for sometime now. Additionally, the former has been working on evolving Disney -- as its traditional cable TV business is under pressure from cord-cutting and video-on-demand streaming services – into increasing new media plays.

In recent times, Disney has invested in video streaming service Hulu, Shane Smith digital media company Vice and HBO Now tech partner MLB’s BAMTech. Twitter too has partnered with BAMTech for its live streaming services, says Bloomberg.