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Twitter shares rocket on report of possible sale

Talk has been circulating for weeks that the popular messaging platform was opening its doors to potential buyers

Afp September 23, 2016

Twitter said it remained committed to India and would continue to maintain a presence in the city. PHOTO: AFP

NEW YORK: Twitter shares soared more than 16 per cent Friday after CNBC reported that the company was moving close to a sale, with Alphabet/Google and Salesforce possible buyers.

Talk has been circulating for weeks that the popular messaging platform was opening its doors to potential buyers.

CNBC cited unnamed sources in the report, adding that it is still early in the process.

"Twitter's board of directors is said to be largely desirous of a deal, according to people close to the situation, but no sale is imminent," CNBC said.

Twitter shares are currently having their best day ever after CNBC reported the company is moving closer to a sale https://t.co/J4dKo2jiJR pic.twitter.com/9kG5xg6geO
— CNBC (@CNBC) September 23, 2016

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Five minutes into trading early Friday, Twitter shares were up 16.4 per cent at $21.68, less than one-third of their peak in December 2013 and well below the November 2013 IPO price of $26 a share.

After a very fast startup Twitter has struggled to further build its user base - hovering just above 300 million active users since the beginning of 2015 - to keep pace with other faster-growing social networking smartphone apps.

In early September reports swirled that Twitter's board was weighing ways to cut costs, ramp up revenue or possibly maximize shareholder value by selling itself.