Twitter Stocks Jump As Elon Musk’s Takeover Likely Today

Musk said last week that he had lined up USD 46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the company’s board to negotiate a deal.

New Delhi: Amid reports of Twitter nearing a deal with Elon Musk that could be announced as soon as Monday, the social media giant’s share jumped more than 4 percent in the premarket. According to a Reuters report, Twitter Inc is poised to agree on a sale to Elon Musk for around USD 43 billion in cash, the price the chief executive of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has called his “best and final” offer for the social media company.

The company is likely to make the announcement of the deal later on Monday. It is always possible that the deal collapses at the last minute, the Reuters report quoting sources added. Musk, the world’s richest person according to a tally by Forbes, is negotiating to buy Twitter in a personal capacity and Tesla is not involved in the deal.

Twitter has not been able to secure so far a ‘go-shop’ provision under its agreement with Musk that would allow it to solicit other bids once the deal is signed, the report said. Still, Twitter would be allowed to accept an offer from another party by paying Musk a break-up fee, the sources added.

Musk has said Twitter needs to be taken private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech.

Musk said last week that he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the company’s board to negotiate a deal. The Times, citing people with knowledge of the situation who it did not identify, said the two sides were discussing details including a timeline and fees if an agreement was signed and then fell apart. The people said the situation was fluid and fast-moving.

Twitter had enacted an anti-takeover measure known as a poison pill that could make a takeover attempt prohibitively expensive. But the board decided to negotiate after Musk updated his proposal to show he had secured financing, according to The Wall Street Journal, which was first to report the negotiations were underway.