Once a target for acquisition, Twitter now invests $70 million in SoundCloud

Micro-blogging website Twitter has invested $70 million (approximately Rs 465.6 crore) in popular music streaming service SoundCloud, a move that may push Twitter's stalled growth and engagement with its over 300 million users.

According to a Re/Code report, "Twitter has invested around $70 million in the music service, as part of a round that should end up in the $100 million-range."

Nearly two years ago, the micro-blogging site had planned to buy SoundCloud but since then, had gone silent on this.

"We can confirm that Twitter has made an investment in SoundCloud. Both companies facilitate and inspire contemporary culture to happen in real time while reaching millions of people around the world," a SoundCloud spokesperson was quoted as saying.

"This investment will enable SoundCloud to remain focused on building value for creators and listeners alike, and to continue the global rollout of many company initiatives such as our recently launched subscription service, SoundCloud Go," the spokesperson added.

According to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the company now owns a stake in SoundCloud.

"Earlier this year, we made an investment in SoundCloud through Twitter Ventures to help support some of our efforts with creators. They`ve been great partners of ours over the years and their community-supported approach mirrors ours in many ways," he was quoted as saying.

The 10-year-old Twitter is facing stalled user growth and growing competition for quite some time. A sequential decline in its monthly active users (MAUs) base triggered a sharp fall for Twitter shares as the company announced its fourth quarter results recently.

The micro-blogging site reported 305 million monthly active users for the fourth quarter, compared to 307 million in the third quarter that excluded SMS-only followers.

As many top-notch executives have quit the company in the recent past, Twitter is going through a major overhaul under Dorsey. He has hinted that Twitter's deal with the National Football League (NFL) to stream 10 games this fall will help the company earn better traffic.

As the news of Microsoft's $26.2 billion acquisition of the professional networking website LinkedIn made the headlines this week, the shares of micro-blogging website Twitter went up more than eight percent in early-morning trading.

According to media reports, Microsoft-LinkedIn acquisition in the enterprise social media space has rekindled hope for Twitter which is affected by stalled user growth.

If Twitter shares stay up for some time, it is a clear signal that investors would rather see it in someone else`s hands, Re/Code reported.

Google is rumoured to be ahead in the race to acquire Twitter. Another key global media player Comcast may also join the race, the report added.