Microsoft Corp. made proposals to buy Pinterest Inc. in recent months, the Financial Times reported Wednesday night.
Acquisition talks are not currently active, FT reported, adding that Pinterest has in the past signaled its preference to remain an independent company. The FT reported that Microsoft’s acquisition strategy is targeting active online communities that it can pair with its cloud platform.
Pinterest PIN,
It has a current market valuation of around $ 50 billion, bolstered by a 36% increase in its shares over the past three months. The online bulletin board platform has exploded during the pandemic as users have had more free time. Over the past 12 months, Pinterest shares increased 239%.
Last week, Pinterest reported that it added 100 million new users in 2020 and posted 76% growth in quarterly revenue year-over-year.
A deal would likely have been Microsoft’s largest acquisition in its history, roughly double its $ 26 billion purchase of LinkedIn in 2016, but it would also likely have drawn scrutiny from antitrust regulators.
Microsoft shares MSFT,
have risen 9% year-to-date and 31% more than last year, compared to a 6% annual gain from the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
of which it is a component.