Twitter Moving Closer to Sale, Google Possible Suitor: CNBC Report

The report sent Twitter shares up by more than 17% in premarket trading, their highest since early January.

According to the CNBC report, possible suitors include Alphabet’s Google and Salesforce.com. (Photo: iStock photo)

Twitter Inc is moving closer to a sale, according to a CNBC report, sending the microblogger’s shares up more than 17 percent in premarket trading.

CNBC, which cited unnamed sources, said that possible suitors include Alphabet’s Google and Salesforce.com.

The report sent Twitter shares to their highest since early January.

CNBC further added that “Twitter’s board of directors is said to be largely desirous of a deal, according to people close to the situation, but no sale is imminent.” Although there isn’t an immediate assurance of a deal materialising, CNBC quoted sources as saying that things are picking momentum.

CNBC could not confirm anything from the companies involved. However, Salesforce.com’s chief digital evangelist, Vala Afshar, tweeted about Twitter after the report came out.

The Possible Reason for Sale

Amid persistently disappointing sales and user engagement, the Twitter sale has been a subject of speculation for months now, according to Reuters. In its most recent quarterly report, it posted its slowest revenue growth since going public in 2013 and issued a lackluster outlook.

As rivals such as Facebook’s (FB.O) Instagram and privately held Snapchat gain traction with advertisers and social media users, investors have questioned how long Twitter could persist as a stand-alone company.

(With inputs from CNBC and Reuters.)