Twitter will accept Musk’s $ 43 billion offer

NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) – Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) is ready to agree to a $ 43 billion sale of Elon Musk in cash, the award Tesla CEO has called his “best and final” offer for the social media company, said people familiar with the matter.

Twitter may announce the deal at $ 54.20 per share later on Monday when the board met to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, the sources said, adding that it was still possible the deal could collapse at the last minute.

Musk, the world’s richest person according to Forbes, is negotiating to buy Twitter in his personal capacity and Tesla (TSLA.O) is not involved in the agreement.

Twitter has so far not been able to secure a “go-shop” provision under the agreement with Musk that will allow it to obtain other bids when the agreement is signed, the sources said. Nevertheless, Twitter would be allowed to accept an offer from another party by paying Musk a break-up fee, the sources added.

The sources asked for anonymity because the case is confidential. Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Twitter shares rose 4.5% in pre-market trading in New York to $ 51.15.

Musk, a prolific Twitter user, has said that it must be taken privately to grow and become a real platform for freedom of expression.

The 50-year-old entrepreneur, who is also the CEO of rocket developer SpaceX, has said he wants to fight trolls on Twitter and has proposed changes to the Twitter Blue subscription service, including cutting prices and banning advertising.

The billionaire, a vocal spokesman for cryptocurrencies, has also suggested adding dogecoin as a payment option on Twitter.

He has said that Twitter’s current management team is not able to get the company’s shares at the offer price on its own, but stopped by saying that it must be replaced.

“The company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form,” Musk said in his offer letter last week.

By the time Musk revealed a stake in Twitter in April, the company’s shares had fallen around 10% since Parag Agrawal took over as CEO from founder Jack Dorsey in late November.

The deal, if it happens, will come just four days after Musk unveiled a financing package to support the acquisition.

This led to Twitter’s board taking his offer more seriously and many shareholders asked the company not to miss the opportunity for a deal, Reuters reported on Sunday. Before Musk revealed the funding package, Twitter’s board was expected to reject the offer, sources said. read more

The sale will represent an admission from Twitter that Agrawal is not taking enough steps to make the company more profitable, despite the fact that they are on track to meet ambitious financial goals the company set for 2023. Twitter shares were traded higher than Musk’s offer price so late as in November.

Musk revealed his intention to buy Twitter on April 14 and take it private via a financing package consisting of equity and debt. Wall Street’s largest lenders, apart from those who advise on Twitter, have all committed to providing debt financing.

Musk’s bargaining tactics – making an offer and sticking to it – are similar to how another billionaire, Warren Buffett, negotiates an acquisition. Musk gave no financing details when he first revealed his offer on Twitter, which made the market skeptical of the prospects.

Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York, Additional Reporting by Krystal Hu; Editing Mark Potter

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