TweetDeck in Twitter's sights for $50 million

by Steven Mostyn - Apr 19 2011, 06:21

Social networking phenomenon Twitter is currently immersed in “advanced” discussions with TweetDeck regarding a potential $50 million USD acquisition, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Citing unnamed sources apparently “familiar with the matter,” Twitter is looking to secure TweetDeck in order to help increase the micro-blogging platform’s appeal. However, its motivations may be somewhat more tactical.

Specifically, news of the possible buyout comes only a few weeks after reports emerged claiming that TweetDeck was being lined up for a $30 million USD bid by UberMedia—an app developer that recently banged heads with Twitter after violating its terms of service.

And last week we brought you news that UberMedia is believed to be positioning itself to launch a new micro-blogging platform designed to directly rival Twitter, which may be the reason behind Twitter’s apparent eagerness to buy.

TweetDeck, which has been described as a “social dashboard” as it also supports Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, is the Net’s most popular Twitter application and is responsible for distributing around 13 percent of all user tweets.

Neither California-based Twitter nor London-based TweetDeck has offered any official comment regarding the reported talks.

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