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Musk bags Twitter for US$44bn

By Neil Griffiths

April 26 2022
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Musk bags Twitter for US$44bn

By Neil Griffiths
April 26 2022

The social media giant has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by the Tesla CEO.

Musk bags Twitter for US$44bn

By Neil Griffiths

April 26 2022
Share

The social media giant has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by the Tesla CEO.

Twitter has agreed to be acquired by Elon Musk for approximately US$44 billion ($61.4 billion), a statement released today read.

Under the terms, Twitter stockholders will receive US$54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing of the proposed transaction, with the purchase price representing a 38 per cent premium to the company’s closing stock price on 1 April 2022.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Mr Musk said following the news.

“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots and authenticating all humans.

“Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

Twitter’s independent board chair, Bret Taylor, added that the proposed transaction will deliver a “substantial” cash premium and said it is the best path forward for stockholders.

"The Twitter board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders," Mr Taylor said.

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Twitter board of directors, is expected to close in 2022, subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders, the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

On Friday, Mr Musk revealed he had secured US$46.5 billion in financing for a possible hostile acquisition and was putting up over US$20 billion of his own money.

In early April, he announced that he had purchased a 9.2 per cent stake in Twitter, valued at US$2.9 billion.

Just days later, he offered to purchase the entire social media platform for US$54.20 per share, putting the total cost at US$43 billion.

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