"Kara Swisher
August 2, 2011 at 11:08 am PT
According to multiple sources close to the situation, Ning has been talking recently to a large pool of companies about selling itself, including Google and Groupon, as well as to a number of private equity companies.
Interest has been both incoming to and outgoing from Ning.
The talks around the fate of the high-profile social networking platform - co-founded by Silicon Valley icon and investor Marc Andreessen - are still early and might not result in a sale, although a number of sources said the company was being valued at up to $150 million.
That price is well below previous loftier valuations for Ning and would mean only a break-even for investors, who have put close to $120 million into Ning since it was founded in 2004."