The suits at Twitter cannot be warbling a happy tune this Friday as prospective buyer Salesforce.com is now on the record saying thanks, but no thanks, when it comes to a chance to nurse the social media world’s wounded bird back to health.
“In this case, we’ve walked away. It wasn’t the right fit for us,” CEO Marc Benioff told the Financial Times in a Friday interview.
“Salesforce had been the only serious contender left in the race after Twitter opened itself to takeover offers,” the Financial Times noted, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the buyout talks. “The sale process is virtually dead, said a person close to Twitter’s senior management.”
The Financial Times added that while a private equity buyout was always possible, it was “increasingly unlikely.”
And while the news has sent the stock down nearly 6 percent at the time of this writing, the failed sale to Salesforce may not ultimately prove to be a black Friday for the San Francisco company, according to at least one observer.
“This has been a distraction for [CEO Jack Dorsey] and the company … The failure of the sale process is a blessing in disguise,” the Financial Times quoted an unnamed venture capitalist investor as saying.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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