Twitter reportedly acquires TweetDeck for US$40m


24 May 2011

Twitter has reportedly managed to acquire third-party app TweetDeck on Monday for more than US$40m in a mix of cash and stock.

The rumour had appeared a few weeks ago that the social media giant had bought the highly popular third-party Twitter app, and according to CNN, the papers finalising the deal were completed on Monday.

Another social media client called UberMedia wanted to acquire TweetDeck for US$30m, however, it seems Twitter has topped this offer.

During the time of these deal talks between TweetDeck and UberMedia, Twitter shut down three of UberMedia’s Twitter apps for violating their company policies. It’s believed that Twitter’s acquisition of TweetDeck was defensive against UberMedia.

TweetDeck has proved its staying power, with more than 20m downloads. Its column-based interface is designed for customisation and management of different feeds. While it is primarily used for Twitter, it also supports other social networks, such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn.

Twitter previously acquired Tweetie, which created its Twitter app for iPhones.