Twitter Considering $1bn Acquisition of Flipboard

flipboard comboTwitter and news-reading app Flipboard are engaged in a series of talks that could result in the social network acquiring the app in an all-stock deal that placed the companys value at over $1bn (£648m).

According to Re/code, the talks have been taking place since the beginning of the year, and have been steered by Anthony Noto, CFO of Twitter, who is keen to make the deal due to the increasing investor pressure Twitter has seen over the past few years.

Twitter and Flipboard have worked together closely in the past, and CEO Mike McCue is a former Twitter board member and has a reputation as a skilled product developer and entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, which could make him a potential CEO at Twitter, should besieged current chief exec Dick Costolo step down.

For Flipboard, the deal could help the app expand its user base, which has stalled at around 100m, largely due to the fact that the app is no longer automatically installed on Samsung phones.

However, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, the acquisition talks between the two may have ground to a halt, despite the upsides for both companies. Representatives from both firms have declined to comment on the talks, or even confirm their existence, but should they reach an agreement, it may be something of a lifeline for an increasingly embattled Twitter.