Twitter, Inc.’s economic struggles are one of the worst-kept secrets in tech, with the company posting several successive losing quarters in a row, and its user adoption stagnating. While Twitter has long help up independence as a key part of its ethos, it seems to be edging closer to an acquisition as the only solution to stave off its woes.

The latest news is that Twitter’s board members are set to meet on Thursday to discuss the possibility of selling the company outright. However, it could be a tough sell thanks to the company’s hefty price tag and its continued economic woes, Re/Code reports. It reckons that Twitter would command a price tag of around $18 billion, based on the same metrics as Microsoft’s $26 million acquisition of LinkedIn Corp.

Twitter might be able to make itself more attractive to buyers by laying off some staff, or else spinning out products such as Vine, Re/Code suggests. Other options remain on the table besides a full sale however, such as an ownership shakeup by way of stock purchases.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey returned to the company he helped found just over a year ago, first taking up the post on an interim basis and later permanently. At the time, he promised to turn the company around. But Dorsey, who is also CEO of mobile payment processor Square Inc., has been unable to boost the company’s bottom line during his spell in charge, as the chart below illustrates.

Despite all of its problems, Twitter is still one of the biggest and most influential brands on the web, and its user base of some 320 million monthly active users might well make it an attractive target for the right buyer.

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