Twitter is in "advanced talks" to acquire TweetDeck for around $50 million, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing "people familiar with the matter."
"It's unclear how Twitter may use TweetDeck, which is designed for 'power users' of Twitter," the Journal reported.
TweetDeck makes an Adobe Air-based application that integrates with social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. TweetDeck's add-on application for Twitter is used to organize Twitter messages and is compatible with several PC and mobile operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and iOS, Linux and Google Chrome and Android.
The company's initial release of its software was on July 4, 2008.
TweetDeck is based in the United Kingdom, where most of its 15 or so employees and contractors are located, including founder Iain Dodsworth. Twitter "has been recruiting engineers and others in London and plans to open a U.K. office this year," the Journal reported, again citing unnamed sources.
Twitter, a longtime media darling, received an unusual buffeting from the press last week, including a lengthy critique by Fortune of the company's executive carousel and relative lack of activity in recent months.
Co-founder Biz Stone answered back Friday with a tongue-in-cheek post on his personal blog that seemed to welcome the criticism while simultaneously dismissing it.
Twitter, a private company, has been valued at between $3.7 billion and $7.8 billion in recent months.