TweetDeck will soon be under the control of Twitter. Sources close to the deal explained to TechCrunch on Monday that the social network has agreed to pay somewhere in the vicinity of $40 million to $50 million for the software company, money that will be paid out in cash and Twitter stock.
In February Bill Gross and his UberMedia company offered to buy TweetDeck for upwards of $30 million, however Twitter quickly made a counter offer and then spent the next several months working out the deal.
The move makes sense for Twitter who on the one hand have slowly begun to stifle 3rd party developer requests in an attempt to reign in their production and on the other hand it ensures they retain their control over a major Twitter program.
UberMedia already runs UberTwitter, EchoFon and various other Twitter startups which could help provide them with leverage over Twitter should they continue to purchase and retain the rights to major Twitter 3rd party applications used by millions of the networks customers.
Twitter officials are not commenting on the rumor, Tweeting:
“We don’t comment on rumors. We don’t provide off-the-record background on rumors. We don’t wink twice or release puffs of smoke abt rumors.”
The London based makers of TweetDeck are also not commenting on the matter and it’s still unclear if a full out talent buy will come to fruition from the deal, however I’m pretty sure Twitter will want to get their hands on at least some of the company’s Twitter knowledgeable developers.
