AAA Twitter backs off takeover talks with SoundCloud

Twitter backs off takeover talks with SoundCloud

Microblogging platform Twitter has walked away from a proposed deal to acquire Germany-based music streaming platform SoundCloud, German daily Der Spiegel has reported.

The mooted acquisition, reported by online news source Re/code earlier this week, would have provided an exit for media, entertainment and technology company The Chernin Group (TCG).

TCG invested in SoundCloud’s January 2014 series D round, which raised $60m at a $700m valuation.

However, the talks collapsed after Twitter allowed an exclusive negotiation period to expire.

SoundCloud and Twitter are closely linked. According to data collected by music technology hacker Peter Watts, Twitter users share links to SoundCloud more often than any other online music service, and almost four times more often than for competitor Spotify. Peter Chernin, chief executive of TCG, is also a board member at Twitter.

SoundCloud has reportedly raised more than $120m in equity funding since it was founded in 2007, and its investors also include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, GGV Capital, Eniac Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Union Square Ventures and Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures.

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