Discord is reportedly in “final negotiations” over a sale with multiple groups interested in buying the chat platform at a value exceeding $US10 billion.
On Tuesday, GamesBeat’s Dean Takahashi reported that the 6-year-old company was having discussions with “multiple parties” about selling the platform which is popular with gamers and other online communities.
Two sources familiar with the matter said that Discord is exploring its options for a sale. “The market is in a state where they could command strong double-digit billions of dollars,” the source reportedly said.
One source told GamesBeat that discussions had been simultaneously occurring with different groups but that had since winnowed.
“The company has signed an exclusive acquisition discussion with one party, meaning it is in final negotiations about a sale,” one source said.
It’s been a meteoric rise for Discord. As of last year, the company reported that it had more than 100 million active users each month. Discord had previously received a valuation of $US7 billion based on a December raise of $US140 million, and generated $130 million in revenue in 2020. But like many other tech darlings, the company is not yet profitable — although that could soon change.
Starting out a simple IRC-like service with voice chat, Discord has expanded its capabilities to include video calling and screen-sharing, which has allowed small groups to stream their activities to each other. Culturally, the freemium service has an enormous presence on the internet, cementing itself as one of the key pieces of internet infrastructure that communities build around.
Even if sale talks have reached their finals stages there’s still a good chance Discord won’t be sold. Companies regularly kick the tires on offers before deciding against accepting an offer or selling at all. And there’s no evidence to suggest that Discord’s owners need a sale to keep running the platform.
Discord declined to comment about the reporting.