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Disney Interested in Buying Twitter | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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London and New York – News reports had revealed that Walt Disney Co. may be another potential bidder for Twitter Inc., the struggling social-media service.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported informed sources saying that Twitter, with a stock-market value of about $20 billion, has also held preliminary talks with Salesforce.com Inc.

Google owner Alphabet, with $120 billion worth, still viewed by many Wall Street analysts to be the most likely acquirer, even though negotiations are happening with around 23 tech companies.

Bloomberg website said that Disney could help Twitter in its new video streaming feature, given that Disney is the owner of ABC and ESPN and could obtain a new online outlet for entertainment, sports and news.

Jack Dorsey, chief executive officer of Twitter, is on the board of Disney.

Speculations rose in recent months, given the company’s slumping stock and difficulties in attracting new users and advertising revenue.

Analyst Anthony DiClemente told CNBC that he would rather the deal between Disney and Twitter do not occur. He said that Disney may reportedly be interested in making a bid for Twitter, but it actually isn’t a good fit.

“It’s a very high price tag and a high multiple for Disney. We see better uses for that capital elsewhere for Disney,” DiClemente added.

Twitter has been trying to attract more users recently with many deserting the application for more youthful ones like Snapchat, now referred to as Snap.

The migration from Twitter to other applications is due to the fact that Twitter began in 2006 at a time where the services and speed were not available everywhere. But with iPhone in 2007 and camera phones and later applications, young users abandoned Twitter for something else.

Twitter tried to offer other services to its users like verifying accounts, a feature which was paid service or only available for celebrities. In addition, Twitter launched polls and integration with Periscope live application.