Microsoft is in discussions to acquire Yammer, operator of a social network for businesses, said two people familiar with the matter.
Microsoft may pay more than $1 billion, and a deal may be reached as soon as tomorrow, said one person, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are private.
Gaining closely-held Yammer would help Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, add social-networking tools to the suite of products it offers corporate customers. Large information-technology companies are snapping up nimbler startups, sometimes before they reach an initial public offering, spending $17.4 billion on enterprise software acquisitions in 2011, compared with $715.5 million in 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
A deal for Yammer would follow other recent enterprise software purchases centered around social media.
San Francisco-based Yammer was founded in 2008 by David Sacks, the former chief operating officer at PayPal Inc. It has raised more than $140 million in funding from venture firms.
Yammer is used by more than 200,000 companies, including Ford and EBay.
