There are a lot of online video streaming sites but no one comes close to YouTube, which Google picked up for almost a billion dollars back in 2006. Since then, YouTube has grown to be the behemoth it is today, and even though Dailymotion and Vimeo are some of the better known competitors, YouTube is in a league of its own. Last year there were rumors floating about that Yahoo was interested in taking up a stake in Dailymotion, but apparently talks fell through. Last week it was rumored that Microsoft is mulling over the exact same possibility, and now French telco Orange’s CEO Stephane Richard has told The Wall Street Journal that talks with Microsoft are indeed a go, though not necessarily for a stake alone. Orange has a majority stake in the video streaming website.
Richard says that both companies are actually discussing the possibility of Dailymotion expanding into the U.S., and that this might not necessarily result in a deal between Microsoft and Orange. its possible that Orange may be willing to offer Microsoft a certain stake in Dailymotion in return for its help in expanding into the U.S., but as far as a total acquisition goes, there are no indications that Orange is even considering that.