Looks Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is on the prowl again, looking for his next big deal. Mr. Softy reportedly held talks with Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) to acquire the popular social media site, according to a report in the Financial Times (courtesy of MarketWatch).
Pinterest rejected the offer and negotiations stopped. If the deal had gone through, it would have been Microsoft’s biggest acquisition to date. Pinterest currently has a market capitalization of more than $ 54 billion – more than double the $ 26 billion that Microsoft spent to acquire LinkedIn in 2016.
Image source: Pinterest.
This is not the first high-profile social media company in Microsoft’s sights in recent months. At the end of last year, the tech giant expressed interest in stealing TikTok’s US operations from ByteDance after the Trump administration threatened to ban the short-form video app due to concerns over the privacy of user data.
It’s easy to see why Microsoft might be interested in adding another top social network. Since the acquisition of LinkedIn, the estimated revenue from the professional networking application has almost quadrupled to more than $ 8 billion in 2020, although Microsoft has not released its results.
Pinterest is on fire, increasing revenue in 2020 to $ 1.69 billion, an increase of 48% year on year, while its global user base has increased by more than 100 million to 459 million. International users represent less than 16% of the total, although growth outside the United States has been much more robust, with revenue and monthly active users (MAUs) growing 129% and 46%, respectively.
The platform allows users to “pin” items of interest from across the internet to a virtual corkboard, helping to inspire and motivate them, and acting as a catalyst for travel, starting a project or taking on a new recipe. This sets it apart from its peers, which earned it the company name “anti-social media”.
Social media sites provide a lot of user data while integrating well with existing Microsoft operations.