The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft acquisition talks with Discord have ended and no buy is imminent. Discord has halted talks with all potential suitors, The Journal said in an April 20 article, in favor of a possible initial public offering.
Reports surfaced last month that Microsoft was in advanced talks to acquire chat startup Discord for more than $10 billion. The Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter” said there still is a possibility the talks could be renewed at some point in the future.
Discord’s platform offers text, audio and video chat and is used by many gamers. Microsoft was reportedly interested in San Francisco-based Discord because it is trying to buy communities and turn their members into customers for more Microsoft products. Microsoft already has a couple of voice and chat services with Skype and Teams.
Last week, Microsoft made its second largest acquisition of all time and bought speech and AI vendor Nuance Communications for $19.7 billion. Microsoft also was rumored to have held talks with Pinterest about a possible acquisition. The company also was in negotiations with TikTok last summer before that acquisition attempt fizzled.
I’ve asked Microsoft about the report that talks with Discord are over. A spokesperson said the company declined to comment.
