As Twitter’s stock climbed for the second consecutive day, the company’s board is said to considering the threat of becoming a target for a potential buyer or activist investors. There have been repeated mentions in the public domain about Twitter becoming an acquisition target; something that the board seems to be well aware off.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg TV co-founder Ev Williams said “We’re in a strong position now, and as a board member we have to consider the right options.” The company’s shares are up nearly 6% in the past two days, following Williams’s comments.
Twitter’s market value went up to $42 billion nearly three years ago when it went public. And the expectation was that the company would mirror the success of social tech giant Facebook. However, a continuous drop in the number of Twitter’s active users and its advertising revenue dispelled that thinking.
Even amid efforts by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey reshape the company’s reputation and product mix, Twitter’s target audience segment is witnessing alarming slowdown. To counter the sluggish movement, Twitter is looking at streaming more live events, and has even acquired an artificial intelligence startup to give live video a more animated appeal.
In the present situation however, regardless of how Twitter performs, the big question on what kind of financial value would the company generate if an acquisition did happen has largely gone unanswered. So any talk of a company takeover seems to be pure speculation as of now.
