Twitter Tried to Acquire Indian Social Network ShareChat

Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) recently tried to purchase ShareChat, an Indian social media startup according to reports. The social media giant held talks, offering $1.1 billion for ShareChat in a bid to expand its reach in the world’s second-largest internet market. 

Reports suggest that Twitter expressed its desire to make Moj, ShareChat’s short-form video app, a popular app and a direct rival to Chinese video-sharing social networking service TikTok. Twitter’s plan however isn’t going to manifest as talks collapsed which subsequently saw both parties pull out.

Although both companies refuse to comment on the failed deal, Twitter was reportedly keen on the deal as it had committed a $900 million investment into the Indian startup. Twitter participated in ShareChat’s Series D round back in 2019, leading the 100 million financing round which saw other firms including TrustBridge Partners, and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, SAIF Capital, Shunwei Capital India Quotient and Morningside Venture Capital participate. The five-year-old Indian social network has since raised about $260 million.

ShareChat’s Moj has been on the rise after India banned TikTok last year. The app now boasts of over 80 million users and is establishing itself as a giant in the short-form video scene. Snap Inc signed a deal earlier this month with ShareChat earlier this month to integrate its Camera Kit into the Indian short video app, the first time Snap has formed a partnership of this kind with an Indian firm.

ShareChat was reportedly in talks with Google LLC (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Snap Inc (NYSE: SNAP), Twitter as well as some existing investors earlier in January to raise over $200 million. Twitter’s potential deal at that time derailed the investment talks. The Indian firm is however back on the market, resuming talks with Google and snap as well as opening negotiations with other investors. 

Twitter is doing well on the stock market this year. After a somewhat rocky start, attributed to the social media giant’s decision to exile the then-sitting president of the United States of America Donald Trump, the firm’s shares have performed since and is now up by 33%. 

Twitter shares plunged for a while after Donald Trump was permanently banned from its platform, trading below they opened in the company’s trading debut in November 2013. The social media platform has seen many product improvements and has devised more aggressive content moderation plans since it was subjected to backlashes after the ex-US President Trump was deemed by some to have incited his supporters to commit violence at the US Capitol. 

Twitter has steadily been on an upward trajectory for some time now and has outperformed peers, including Pinterest, so far this year. The company’s growth will be further up for dissection on February 25, when it hosts its first analyst day since 2014. Jack Dorsey, CEO of the company and his management team are expected to reveal plans on revenue generation and user growth.