April 2, 2009 by James Oliver
Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time. TechCrunch has it from two separate sources that they’re describing as ‘close to the negotiations,’ that Google are about to buy micro-blogging site Twitter. According to the normally reliable technology blog, the search engine giant in the latter stages of a deal that would see them take possession of one of the hottest properties on the Internet.
Unsurprisingly, the blog has no information about the amount of money that would change hands in any deal though it is thought that the price would be far in excess of their recent $250 million dollar valuation, with some analysts predicting figures as high as 1.5 billion or more.
Late last year Twitter turned down a buyout offer of half a billion from Facebook, though that offer was largely made up of Facebook stock which many believed to be valued unrealistically highly. Any Google offer would be much more concrete, probably made up of cash, combined with publicly valued shares in Google – a much more stable proposition.
If the rumours are true it’s a canny move by Twitter. Their public profile is probably never going to be as high again. If there was ever a time to quit while you’re ahead…
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