Update, at 11:54 PDT: Twitter announced in a news bulletin that they “have entered into a final agreement to be acquired by a unit 100% owned by Elon Musk, for $ 54.20 per share in cash in a transaction worth approximately $ 44 billion. Following the completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company. “
Twitter says the transaction is “expected to close in 2022” subject to shareholder and government approval.
Original story: Tesla’s CEO and billionaire Elon Musk recently bought 9.2% of Twitter shares, shortly after there was a bit of a will – he will not-he dances with Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal. The same CEO who announced Musk was also added to the company’s board before returning after a week of strange tweets from Musk. After which Musk essentially said this for a game of toy soldiers: I’m buying the lot.
Musk offered $ 54.20 per share for Twitter, saying that if it was not accepted, I would have to reconsider my position as a shareholder. Now, Bloomberg reports that Twitter is in the final stages of negotiating a sale to Musk, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The two sides could apparently “reach an agreement as soon as Monday if negotiations go smoothly”, according to this source.
Musk described his goals of buying Twitter as follows in an application to the US Financial Supervisory Authority: “I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for freedom of expression across the globe, and I believe that freedom of expression is a societal necessity for a functioning democracy.
“But since I made my investment, I now realize that the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter must be transformed as a private company […] Twitter has extraordinary potential. I’m unlocking it. “
Well, it escalated. As for Musk, he has said nothing about the apparent impending acquisition on his social feed, preferring to spend the last day trolling Bill Gates. We can be sure of at least one thing: Twitter will probably get that edit button.