World’s richest man, Elon Musk has clinched a deal to buy Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) for $44 billion cash on Monday in a transaction that will shift control of the social media platform populated by millions of users and global leaders to the world’s richest person.
CNN reported that trading in Twitter’s shares was halted earlier in the day amid reports that the firm could agree a takeover deal with Elon Musk.
Twitter Inc has now confirmed that it’s Board has accepted billionaire Elon Musk’s offer to buy the 16 years old social media company and take it private. The announcement ends a weeks-long saga Musk kicked off when he offered to buy the company at $54.20 per share. He termed it his “best and final” offer.
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Once the stock resumed trading after the confirmation of the deal, Twitter share price went up more than 6%. In trading earlier on Monday, shares rose more than 5%, climbing higher than Mr Musk’s offer price of $54.20 a share.
Twitter shares are currently trading at $51.85 (+5.99%) on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the time of this report.
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.
Mr. Musk has secured $25.5 billion of fully committed debt and margin loan financing and is providing an approximately $21.0 billion equity commitment. There are no financing conditions to the closing of the transaction.
Full statement by Twitter
“Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Elon Musk, for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $44 billion. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company.
Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing of the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter.
“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,” Musk said in a statement included in the press release announcing the $44 billion deal.
“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.”
Musk twitted earlier as the deal was been concluded that he hoped his worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
