Twitter is in ongoing talks to buy news aggregation app Flipboard, as the social network looks to boost its real time news features to rival Facebook, according to a new report.
ReCode reports that the acquisition might happen in an all-stock deal that values Flipboard at over $1 billion, citing ‘multiple sources’.
The report goes on the assert that Twitter’s negotiations are being headed by company CFO, Anthony Noto. For now, however, Recode reports the deal seems to be stalled.
Deeper integration of the Twitter and Flipboard apps could help Flipboard take advantage of advertisements from some major brands. Flipboard, meanwhile, could become larger by expanding to Twitter’s entire user base.
Flipboard launched in 2010 and is based in Palo Alto, Calif. The company has raised more than $160 million in funding, with backing from the likes of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Index Ventures, Insight Venture Partners, and Rizvi Traverse Management.
In January, Flipboard advanced its monetization strategy by launching Promoted Items, enabling brands to push their own content into Flipboard magazines.
In February, when Flipboard launched a full web app, Mike McCue, the company’s chief executive, told VentureBeat that Flipboard had 50 million monthly active readers.
In March the company said users had created 15 million public magazines to share content.
The deal could be critical for Twitter when it comes to making money through partnerships with publishers, now that Facebook is working with publishers in its new Instant Articles program to quickly deliver articles from Facebook’s News Feed.
Read the ReCode report here
http://recode.net/2015/05/25/twitter-has-held-talks-to-acquire-flipboard/