Financier JP Morgan is in talks with social networking site Twitter over the potential acquisition of a 10% share, according to reports.
The Financial Times claims that the deal could be worth over £12bn, and could increase Twitter’s valuation by a further 21.7% - or $800m.
It is unclear whether JP Morgan will make a direct investment, or whether the existing investors and shareholders will agree to a buyout with Twitter’s approval.
If the deal goes ahead, it will make another major milestone for Twitter, which was founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, and enables users to send and read 140 word messages known as ‘Tweets’ by posting online.
It is estimated that the micro blogging site has around 253 million unique users; a figure which is 85% higher than the equivalent time last year, according to venture capitalist group Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers -which itself recently acquired a share in Twitter for $200m in December last year, valuing the website at $3.7bn.
JPMorgan set up a Digital Growth Fund earlier this month to enable wealthy clients’ access to fast-growth private technology firms and hopes to earn a minimum commission of $13m from the account.
$1.22bn has been raised by the fund so far, a file by the Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed. However, the fund is expected to raise $1.3bn in total from a maximum of 480 investors, the Financial Times was told.
© Crimson Business. Ltd 2011