Why Twitter Is Raising Another $1.8 Billion

It’s déjà vu all over again.

Twitter announced Friday that it will raise $1.8 billion in a convertible debt offering. It had said earlier in the week that it planned to raise $1.3 billion, but there was reportedly strong demand for the debt sale.

The move marks Twitter’s first foray into the debt markets. If the $1.8 billion figure sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because the figure almost exactly matches the amount Twitter raised from its initial public offering in November 2013.

Twitter did not specify what the additional capital will be used for, and reps did not immediately respond to Mashable’s request for comment.

The additional capital will presumably help fuel acquisitions as Twitter competes for companies and talent against better funded rivals like Facebook. By raising capital now, the company ensures it has cash on hand in case it needs to pounce on an acquisition in the next year.

The $1.82 billion Twitter raised from its IPO represented just a small fraction of the $16 billion raised by Facebook in its public offering. Furthermore, Twitter is not yet consistently profitable, unlike many of its competitors in the social space.

Twitter has acquired several notable social TV, analytics and ad-focused companies in the months since going public. Those include TapCommerce, Gnip and SecondSync.

The company’s stock was down slightly in early trading Friday.

I Write Things.