Twitter Inc is expected to agree to a sale to Elon Musk for roughly $43 billion in cash, according to individuals familiar with the situation. Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc, has termed the sum his “best and last” offer for the social media business.
According to the sources, Twitter may announce the $54.20-per-share purchase later on Monday after its board of directors meets to endorse the transaction to Twitter shareholders. The deal might potentially fall apart at the last minute, according to the sources.
According to Forbes, Musk, the world’s richest person, is negotiating to buy Twitter on his own behalf, and Tesla is not participating in the deal. According to the sources, Twitter has not been able to acquire a ‘go-shop’ option in its agreement with Musk that would allow it to solicit alternative bids once the deal is completed.
Despite this, Twitter would be able to accept an offer from another party if it paid Musk a break-up fee, according to the sources. Because the topic is private, the sources requested anonymity. Requests for response from Twitter and Musk were not immediately returned.
In pre-market trading in New York on Monday, Twitter shares were up 4.5 percent to $51.15. Musk believes that in order for Twitter to thrive and become a genuine venue for free speech, it needs to be turned private. The agreement would be announced just four days after Musk announced a financing package to support the purchase.
According to Reuters, this caused Twitter’s board to take the purchase more seriously, and many shareholders to implore the business not to let the possibility for a deal pass them by.
The sale would be an admission by Twitter that its new CEO, Parag Agrawal, who took over in November, is not making enough progress in turning the firm profitable, despite the fact that the company is on schedule to reach its ambitious financial targets established for 2023.
As recently as November, Twitter’s stock was trading higher than Musk’s offer price. Musk’s bargaining strategy, which entails making a single offer and sticking to it, is similar to that of another billionaire, Warren Buffett, when it comes to acquisitions. When Musk first announced his offer for Twitter, he did not share any financial data, leaving the market doubtful of its possibilities.
