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Micro-blogging giant Twitter has purchased third-party tweeting app Tweetdeck.

The software, which enables users to manage multiple accounts on both Twitter and other networks, was first developed in London in 2008 by Iain Dodsworth.

Mr Dodsworth said he was "extremely happy" with the deal.

According to research company Sysomos, Tweetdeck users send 5.5% of all tweets.

The cost of the deal has not been disclosed, but early reports of the acquisition suggested it was going to be bought for around $40m (£25m), comprising both cash and shares.

Tweetdeck allows users to post simultaneously on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Buzz, Foursquare and MySpace.

Writing on the Tweetdeck blog, Mr Dodsworth said: "Change may well be inevitable, but we remain the same team, staying in London, with the same focus and products, and now with the support and resources to allow us to grow and take on even bigger challenges".

On the official Twitter blog, chief executive Dick Costolo suggested that Tweetdeck will be positioned as the Twitter program of choice for business users.

"This acquisition is an important step forward for us.

"Tweetdeck provides brands, publishers, marketers and others with a powerful platform to track all the real-time conversations they care about."

Rumours of a buyout for Tweetdeck had been rife for some time, with some technology news outlets reporting that California-based Ubermedia had purchased the software in February.

However, this deal failed to materialise, allowing Twitter to move in and add the software to its ever-increasing portfolio.

Last year, Twitter acquired third-party mobile application Tweetie which has since been rebranded as Twitter's official app.

The company has since come under criticism after it appeared to discourage third-party developers - like Iain Dodsworth - from creating Twitter clients - like Tweetdeck.

In a message to its developer community earlier this year, Twitter's Ryan Sarver said: "Developers ask us if they should build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience.

"The answer is no."