Bidders seem to be massively dropping out of race for Twitter takeover

Bidders seem to be massively dropping out of race for Twitter takeover

Google has reportedly pulled out of the potential bidding war for Twitter, causing the micro-blogging firm’s stock to dip as much as 15 percent in premarket trading today. According to a report from Re/code, Disney and Apple have also stepped out of the running, if, indeed either company was ever interested in the first place. Many of the reports floating around are based on speculation and unnamed sources.

People “familiar with the deal“ told the tech publication Google currently has no plans to make a bid for Twitter. Sources also said Twitter should have “low expectations“ of receiving a bid from Apple while yet other sources said Disney has reconsidered making an offer.

That does still leave some big players in the running, however. Microsoft, Verizon and Salesforce all have reportedly expressed interest in buying Twitter, although Salesforce is considered the front-runner by many. The companies are interested in Twitter for the reams of data it generates on a daily basis.

Whether Salesforce is serious about an acquisition, however, is anyone’s guess. CEO Marc Benioff, in a recent meeting with Wall Street analysts and investors was non-committal about his intentions. “We look at a lot of things. The number we acquire is very few.“ said Benioff. He added that “it gives us ideas“ to check out other companies.

However, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey apparently wants to wrap-up negotiations by the end of this month to coincide with the third-quarter report it will issue on Oct. 27. “Binding acquisition offers are due in the next two weeks, and Twitter has already whittled down the field of potential acquirers,“ according to the report. Sources were careful to say that just because the acquisition process is moving ahead does not mean it will ultimately result in the sale of Twitter.