Twitter kicked off deal negotiations with Elon Musk on Sunday after he wooed shareholders with details of his $43 billion offer, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: The company’s decision to engage with Musk doesn’t mean that it’ll accept his $54.20 per share bid. But it shows Twitter is now exploring whether a sale to Musk is possible on attractive terms.
Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been meeting with Twitter shareholders in the last few days, to seek support for his bid. He’s telling them Twitter needs to be taken private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech.
- Many Twitter shareholders reached out to Twitter after Musk outlined a detailed financing plan on Thursday, and urged the company not to let the opportunity for a deal slip away.
Musk’s insistence that his bid is his “best and final” has emerged as a hurdle in the deal negotiations, sources told Reuters.
- Nevertheless, Twitter’s board has decided to engage with Musk to gather more information on his ability to complete the deal, and potentially get better terms.
- The talks were also reported by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
Twitter wants to know more about any active investigations by regulators into Musk, including by the SEC, that would present a risk to the deal being completed.
- Twitter is also looking into whether regulators in any of its major markets would object to Musk owning the company.
Twitter kicked off deal negotiations with Elon Musk on Sunday after he wooed shareholders with details of his $43 billion offer, Reuters reports.Why it matters: The company’s decision to engage with Musk doesn’t mean that it’ll accept his $54.20 per share bid. But it shows Twitter is now exploring whether a sale to Musk is possible on attractive terms.Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been meeting with Twitter shareholders in the last few days, to seek support for his bid. He’s telling them Twitter needs to be taken private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech.Many Twitter shareholders reached out to Twitter after Musk outlined a detailed financing plan on Thursday, and urged the company not to let the opportunity for a deal slip away.Musk’s insistence that his bid is his “best and final” has emerged as a hurdle in the deal negotiations, sources told Reuters.Nevertheless, Twitter’s board has decided to engage with Musk to gather more information on his ability to complete the deal, and potentially get better terms.The talks were also reported by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.Twitter wants to know more about any active investigations by regulators into Musk, including by the SEC, that would present a risk to the deal being completed.Twitter is also looking into whether regulators in any of its major markets would object to Musk owning the company.