Twitter Inc, struggling to find new users, would need to rely more heavily on its live video streaming strategy after top potential bidders were said to have lost interest in making offers amid pressure from their investors.
Twitter once saw interest from Alphabet Inc’s Google, Salesforce.com Inc and Walt Disney Co, all of which consulted with banks on whether to acquire the social media company.
Now all of those suitors are unlikely to make a bid, according to people familiar with the matter.
On Friday, Twitter had planned to have a board meeting with outside advisers on a sale, but canceled, one of the people said.
The company’s search for buyers began after several quarters in which sales and user growth slowed. Twitter received interest from one potential buyer, which led the board to hire Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Allen & Co to pursue a sale last month.
Twitter chief executive officer Jack Dorsey opposed a sale, while co-founder and board member Ev Williams, supported a deal.
Twitter has considered other solutions, such as divestitures of assets not central to its business, people familiar with the matter have said.
If a buyer does not appear, Twitter would try to appeal to more users through a new strategy that emphasizes live video. The company has been entering partnerships for sports, politics and entertainment content — such as the National Football League’s Thursday night games — that it can stream alongside tweets related to the video. It might give people without Twitter accounts a new way to use the service, while allowing the company to share revenue on the video ads.
The fledgling effort has not yet significantly boosted users or advertisers on the platform known for its 140-character messages. The service, favored by journalists, celebrities and politicians, also has been weighed down by growing concern about harassment and abuse on the site.
The San Francisco-based company’s stock declined 35 percent in the past 12 months and had dipped to US$18.25 in late August — below the US$26 price from its November 2013 initial public offering — before rallying after Williams said the board had a duty to consider options including a sale.
Buying Twitter would come with a series of complications. Beside the growth issue, and the concern about harassment among users, a buyer would have to address heavy employee stock grants, while dealing with a workforce that has already faced a lot of turnover in its leadership.
“From a consumer standpoint, it’s a little like a promise that remains unfulfilled — users are trying to inject some meaning into an experience that remains rather undefined at this point,” said Markus Giesler, associate professor of marketing at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto.
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