Acquisition talks between Microsoft Corp. and messaging platform provider Discord Inc. are now in an advanced stage, with a deal possibly coming as soon as a next month, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal.

Discord’s exploration of a sale first emerged March 23, with the company said to have been approached by multiple firms that were interesting in buying it. Initially, it wasn’t clear who was in talks with Discord. Among the potential suitors were large gaming companies and platform owners that included Twitter Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Twitter Inc. and Google LLC — until it emerged that Microsoft was the leading contender.

The deal, should it happen, reportedly would value Discord at $10 billion, a solid increase from its valuation of $7 billion when it raised $100 million in new funding in December. Although it was originally a forum for gamers, it has expanded into all sorts of different verticals, boosted like many companies thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying switch to remote working. Now it has 140 million active monthly users.

For Microsoft, the acquisition would help it reach even more consumers. Microsoft had previously held talks to acquire TikTok from owner ByteDance Ltd. in August and was also reported to have attempted to acquire Pinterest Inc. in February. The Journal noted that Discord could also help Microsoft boost its videogame business as well as its social media footprint.

The acquisition of Discord would also boost Microsoft’s messaging products. “Microsoft is a lumbering corporate giant and often fails to meet the pace of innovation smaller, more nimble teams can accomplish,”  Jez Corden at Windows Central wrote. “Few others represent this as succinctly as Discord, which not only destroys Skype and Xbox Live at texting, mobile quality and usability but arguably is even better than Microsoft Teams as an environment for professional use.”

If the deal doesn’t happen, Discord will likely pursue an initial public offering instead. The company last week hired its first financial chief, Tomasz Marcinkowski, formerly an executive at Pinterest.

Image: Discord