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Microsoft approached to acquire social media firm Pinterest: Report

“The talks were currently not active, said one of the people briefed,” the report said.

Microsoft approached to acquire social media firm Pinterest: Report

Pinterest reported strong fourth-quarter financial results last week, with $706 million in revenue. (Photo: iStock)

Microsoft reportedly approached Pinterest in recent months about a potential deal to acquire the social media company popular with hobbyists posting home decor, food, travel and leisure.

According to The Financial Times, the $51bn social media platform has been an acquisition strategy aimed at amassing a portfolio of active online communities that could run on top of its cloud computing platform.

Pinterest, whose market value has increased more than 600 per cent during the coronavirus pandemic, has signalled in the past that it desired to remain an independent company.

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“The talks were currently not active, said one of the people briefed,” the report said.

Both Microsoft and Pinterest declined to comment on the report.

Pinterest, whose market value increased more than 600 per cent during the pandemic, plans to remain an independent company.

Microsoft earlier made an attempt to acquire TikTok but the deal did not materialise.

The tech giant has acquired some significant companies under CEO Satya Nadella, like LinkedIn for $26 billion and open source code repository GitHub for $7.5 billion. Microsoft also acquired private gaming company ZeniMax for $7.5 billion last year.

Pinterest reported strong fourth-quarter financial results last week, with $706 million in revenue.

The company’s US revenue jumped 67 per cent (year over year) to $582 million while its international revenue was up 145 per cent year over year to $123 million.

Pinterest said its international user base expanded 46 per cent to 361 million.

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