Square Reportedly Eyeing Sale as Losses Widen in 2013

Mobile payments startup Square has many cheerleaders (including us), but that loyalty may not be enough to stop the bleeding, which appears to have piled up to nearly $100 million dollars last year.

The Wall Street Journal today reported that mobile payment kingpin Square Inc. is apparently looking toward the exit door with a rumored sale to one of "several deeper-pocketed rivals," according to insider sources.

Among them is Google, who was said to have discussed a potential acquisition earlier this year, while the report claims Apple, eBay and PayPal have also held less formal discussions with Square in the past.

Just how bad is it? Two sources claim Square apparently shelled out "roughly $110 million more in cash last year than it took in," which shouldn't come entirely as a surprise considering one of its products, Square Cash, allows debit card users to send money to each other without paying a single penny in fees.

The five-year-old company has reportedly burned through half of the $340 million in equity financing raised since launch over the last three years alone — but that appears to be business as usual.

"We are not, nor have we ever been in acquisition talks with Google," a Square spokesman told The Wall Street Journal. "While we appreciate that Square may be an attractive target for some companies, we have never seriously considered selling to anyone or been in any talks to do so."

PayPal also denied any potential acquisition talks, suggesting that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey may be planning to go it alone in what he previously referred to as "a commerce company" rather than "a payments company."

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