Reports: JPMorgan seeks minority stake in Twitter
NEW YORK -- JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s new fund that invests in social media companies is in talks to buy a minority stake in Twitter, according to published reports.
The investment by JPMorgan's $1.22 billion digital growth fund would value the messaging service at more than $4 billion, according to the reports by the Financial Times, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, which cited unidentified people.
It is unclear whether JPMorgan would invest in Twitter directly or buy shares from existing investors with Twitter's permission, the reports said.
A spokeswoman for Twitter declined to comment on the reports. JPMorgan also declined to comment.
JPMorgan announced the new fund in a regulatory filing last week. It intends to invest in companies with established business models and steady revenue before they go public.
In December, Twitter raised $200 million in an investment led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byersthat. That valued the service at $3.7 billion, up from $1 billion more than a year earlier when the company previously raised money from venture capitalist firms.
Investors have shown keen interest in social networking services in recent months.
Last month, daily coupon website Groupon raised $950 million after reportedly turning down Google's offer to purchase it for $6 billion. Facebook, which is privately held, brought in $1.5 billion in a recent round of funding engineered by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Also last month, LinkedIn, a social networking site geared toward professionals, filed to go public in an initial public offering worth up to $175 million