Disney and Microsoft are eyeing Twitter



09/27/2016 3:06 PM


A list of applicants to purchase microblogging service Twitter now includes Microsoft and The Walt Disney Company. Disney’s financial consultants are currently assessing value of Twitter to determine size of the transaction amount, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the negotiations.



The companies gave no official comments. Bloomberg reported with reference to an insider that Twitter, advised by Goldman Sachs, is considering not only full sale, but, as an option, just getting rid of some non-core assets.

Disney owns ABC and ESPN media companies. Acquisition of Twitter may be the biggest deal for Disney. It is worth noting that the microblogging service’s creator, executive director of Twitter Inc. Jack Dorsey is now a member of Disney’s board of directors.

The CNBC TV channel, in turn, said that Microsoft also became interested in buying Twitter. According to the TV channel, Twitter can be sold within the next 35-40 days. Social network Facebook said it is not interested in buying Twitter.

For now, market value of the service has risen to about $ 20 billion. Earlier, media reported that Twitter is negotiating its purchase with a number of technology companies. The company may receive a formal proposal in the near future.

Media called various companies among contenders for the asset purchase. For example, there were Alphabet, Apple, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, together with 21st Century Fox holding company and News Corp. Service Vine and MoPub application belonging to Twitter were priced at $ 18 billion. The amount was clearly overstated, as the company is quarterly reporting about negative financial performance.

The decrease in income is explained by a tough competition with Instagram and Snapchat, and huge advertising costs. At the end of the II quarter of 2016, net loss of the services decreased by 21.5% yoy and amounted to $ 107.2 million. Twitter's revenue increased by 20% when compared to II quarter 2015 and reached $ 602 million. Growth of advertising revenue compared with the same period in 2015 amounted to 18%. This figure keeps falling - for example in the II quarter 2015 advertising revenue increased by 63% compared to the same period in 2014

"The company aims to be what it could not be, namely to be a service, which is used every day or more often," - said Brian Wieser, analyst at Pivotal Research Group.

However, Twitter still has great potential: there are tens of millions of subscribers to showbiz stars such as Kim Kardashian, or users who are protesting against repressive regimes.

Disney’s interest to Twitter is dictated by the live sporting events technology, which the microblogging service has developed.

source: wsj.com


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