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The boss of Salesforce.com has ruled out the company as a bidder for Twitter. This would appear to bring to an end attempts to find a buyer for the struggling social media site.
Salesforce, a US-based cloud software company, had been left as the most likely bidder last week, after other potential acquirers (including Google parent company Alphabet and The Walt Disney Company) decided against a deal.
Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce, said to the Financial Times “In this case we’ve walked away. It wasn’t the right fit for us."
According to the FT, two people who had been briefed on the sale process said that Salesforce had been the only serious contender left in the race after Twitter opened itself to takeover offers. The source would go on to say that while Twitter is still seeking out potential bidders, the potential for a sale is "virtually dead".
Beni off had apparently come under pressure from shareholders over the potential deal. Investors were concerned that a business-facing software company would have no reason to buy a consumer internet company in need of repair. He apparently attempted to appease investors at a recent meeting, though stopped short of ruling out a bid for Twitter.
According to a person close to the company, Salesforce was still considering a bid until Wednesday of last week.
Benioff said: “It’s not the right fit for us for many different reasons. You’re going to look at price, you’re going to look at culture, you’re going to look at everything.
