How much did Twitter acquire Magic Pony for?
Twitter caused a stir last year, buying up a nearly unknown startup from London working on artificial intelligence technology, in a surprise deal that signalled the status of the UK as a leader in AI.
Magic Pony was snapped up for a reported $150m, back in June. Twitter reported spending $85.2m on two acquisitions since the start of the year, according to new documents filed by the social network after last week's earnings.
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The other company is Peer, a small US social network funded with just $40,000 of seed stage cash, indicating that the lion's share of the money went towards Magic Pony.
The majority was in cash, with just $600,000 worth of stock – far less than the more than half a billion dollars worth of stock it used to buy up five companies in the same period last year.
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Twitter has dialled back its M&A ambitions this year amid a tumultuous turnaround. Spending on other companies has dropped by around 40 per cent so far this year compared to 2015, the quarterly report reveals.
In April finance chief Anthony Noto indicated the company was eyeing acquisitions, particularly in the advertising technology space, spending some of its then $3.5bn cash pile.
The struggling social network has suffered sluggish growth and instead ended up shopping itself around as a potential takeover target – ultimately unsuccessfully.
Update: City PM understands the deal was worth $125m, with additional cash for employee retention taking the total to $150m. Twitter has not yet responded to a request for comment.