While the deal could collapse, Twitter Inc is ready to agree to sell Twitter to Elon Musk. They agreed on a bid of around $43 billion in cash. It was his best and final offer.
The two sides worked through the night to hash out a deal that would be valued at $54.20 a share, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Twitter has not been able to secure so far a ‘go-shop’ provision under its agreement with Musk. In other words, it can’t solicit other bids once the deal is signed. Still, Twitter would be allowed to accept an offer from another party by paying Musk a break-up fee, the sources added.
Yahoo says it suggests that Twitter’s new chief executive Parag Agrawal [the anti-free speech guy] is not doing enough to make the company profitable.
THE TURNAROUND
According to the Wall Street Journal, the potential turnabout on Twitter’s part came after Mr. Musk met privately Friday with several shareholders of the company to extol the virtues of his proposal while repeating that the board has a “yes-or-no” decision to make, according to people familiar with the matter. He also pledged to solve the free-speech issues he sees as plaguing the platform and the country more broadly, whether his bid succeeds or not, they said.
Mr. Musk made his pitch to select shareholders in a series of video calls, with a focus on actively managed funds, the people said, in hopes that they could sway the company’s decision, according to the Journal.
He rallied some shareholders.
Mr. Musk said he sees no way Twitter management can get the stock to his offer price on its own. The issues in the business and a persistent inability to correct them won’t allow it.
Mr. Musk already has said he is considering taking his bid directly to shareholders by launching a tender offer.
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