Rumors began surfacing today that internet giants Google and Facebook have been courting Twitter executives in what could end up being an $8 billion to $10 billion acquisition.
While the talks according to the Wall Street Journal are only “low-level” it’s believed that acquisition attempts have heated up over the last several months, although some insiders say they have “went nowhere.”
The huge valuation numbers come at a time when Twitter is estimated to have only taken in $45 million in revenue during 2010 with an estimated increase to $100 million, possibly $110 million in 2011.
At this time no company’s involved in talks have commented, which leaves a lot of speculation around the type of deal Twitter may be trying to etch out.
After $200 million was invested in the company in December 2010, Twitter watched their valuation climb to $3.7 billion, not a bad sum of cash for a company that just recently began selling ad space.
Twitter isn’t the only big acquisition and/or IPO for 2011, there’s also LinkedIn Corp who will go public later this year with an expected $2 billion valuation and Pandora Media Inc., looking at a $100 million public offering, there’s also Groupon which could see a valuation upwards of $10 billion after turning down a $6 billion buyout offer from Google.
What do you think about the valuation numbers being attached to Twitter?
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The valuation numbers for Twitter are justified, as it’s an invaluable resource for a certain segment of social networking. I’m not sure I would be enthused about a Twitter buyout, since I think either of the “courtiers” would change the dynamic aspect of Twitter’s reach among business associates, like myself.
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This is a lot of money just to acquire Twitter considering what it is worth now. However in the very long run this sum may be justified.