Square had reportedly been in talks with several rivals for a possible sale as the mobile payments startup looks to stem widening losses and dwindling cash, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The company reportedly spoke to Google earlier this year about a possible sale, the Journal reported, adding that it wasn’t clear whether the talks are continuing. But now new information suggests these reports are false.
The WSJ is reporting tonight that payments company Square was in acquisition talks with Google. We’re hearing from multiple sources close to both companies that these talks did not in fact take place in any serious capacity. Co-founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Square has raised over $300 million in funding from top tier investors like Khosla, Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins; and is valued in the billions. But payments, especially at the point of sale, is a tough industry to reign supreme and the company has faced a number of speedbumps and challenges. Most recently, Square justsecured a line of credit around $200 million, after putting IPO plans on hold. The WSJ story describes this $200 million line of credit as “more than $100 million.” We heard from one source that Square was actually shopping itself around, and met with M&A executives from number of companies in the process, including Don Harrison at Google.
