New Delhi: With a broader vision to grow aggressively worldwide in key markets, Twitter spent a hefty sum in 2013 on buying technologies and talent. A recently filed S-1 shows that while the company spent $52.2 million in cash and stock on acquisitions in 2012, it doubled the amount to $112.5 million in the first half of 2013. Strikingly, the figure does not include the company's largest acquisition to date, MoPub, which was purchased in September for $305 million in stock.
A rough estimate shows that the company has spent over $417.5 million on acquisitions this year (and it is still counting). This means that the company's acquisition spree has grown nearly 700 per cent over the past one year.
Twitter's programmatic buying denotes the company's expansion into mobile, analytics and second-screen viewing, to further its goals. The move also positions Twitter as a more comprehensive platform for publishers and advertisers to engage in real-time conversations.
Twitter's largest acquisition till date is the $305 million purchase of MoPub. Detailing about this purchase, Adam Bain, head of revenue at Twitter, said, “The company plans to "use MoPub's technology to build real-time bidding into the Twitter ads platform so our advertisers can more easily automate and scale their buys."
Recently the company came out with its IPO and its lack of profits proved to be no obstacle in raising as much as $2.1-billion in its IPO. Its current share price of around $41 gives it a market value north of $22-billion.
Reports suggest that post its initial public offering, the company is all set to embark on an acquisition spree, going on the hunt for companies to help bolster its monetisation efforts.
Below are some quick facts on Twitter's acquisitions so far this year.
Startup: Crashlytics
Sale price: Reportedly $100 million in cash and stock
Acquisition date: January 2013
What it is: A startup that helps developers track down and fix bugs in their apps.
