Investing.com - Shares in Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) gained almost 4% in pre-market trade on Tuesday on a report that Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) had a strong interest in acquiring the social media network.
Twitter has long been the subject of on-again, off-again buyout speculation and is widely expected to field bids this week, according to various reports.
Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff is looking to make a “splashy acquisition” and has touted Twitter as an “unpolished jewel” offering untapped potential advertising and data-rich applications, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Benioff is expected to have tough competition with the likes of Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) or Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) all reported to have shown interest in the company.
Jumps in Twitter’s share price on buyout speculation are hardly a novelty. Just last Monday the 10-year social media company jumped 4% after it was reported that Google had tapped Lazar Ltd. to study the possible acquisition.
WSJ did caution that Twitter could cost $20 billion or more and there was no guarantee that the firm would receive an offer that was enticing enough to accept.