(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is in talks to buy messaging platform Discord Inc for more than $10 billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Discord has reached out to potential buyers and Microsoft is one of them, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter, while one of them said it was more likely to go public than sell itself.
Earlier in the day, VentureBeat reported that Discord was exploring a sale and it was in final talks with a party.
Both Microsoft and Discord did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments.
The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the prospects of gaming companies as people stayed at home and turned to video games for entertainment during lockdowns.
Earlier this month, U.S. gaming company Roblox made a strong market debut after going public through a direct listing rather than a traditional initial public offering.
(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar and Shreyasee Raj in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Maria Ponnezhath; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Arun Koyyur)
