Spotify’s preference of staying independent is no secret. If the company wanted to be acquired by someone it would have found a lot of suitors. According to a new report, it actually had to rebuff a potential suitor with very deep pockets. The report claims that Chinese tech behemoth Tencent tried to acquire Spotify earlier this year.
Recent reports about Spotify the company suggest that it’s gearing up to go public in the United States. It’s believed to be preparing for an IPO-less listing for 2018.
TechCrunch hears that Tencent, a Chinese tech giant valued at over $380 billion, tried to acquire Spotify earlier this year. Tencent apparently wanted to acquire Spotify to expand its reach in the music streaming market beyond China and Asia.
Spotify is the most popular music streaming service in the world. It has more than 140 million active users and more than 60 million paying customers. It’s believed to be valued at $13 billion.
It’s not entirely impossible to believe that Tencent would be interested in Spotify given that acquiring the company want instantly make it the top global player in the streaming market. Tencent’s own music streaming unit touts 600 million users across three main streaming services. However, Tencent’s services are limited to China and Asia while Spotify’s reach is in over 60 countries.
The scribe isn’t clear if the talks ever reached a point where a price was discussed between the two companies. Both Spotify and Tencent declined to comment on the report so there hasn’t been an official response from them so far.