Twitter under pressure from shareholders to seek deal with Musk, says agency

Twitter is under increasing pressure from its shareholders to negotiate with Elon Musk to seek a deal on the company’s takeover, despite the billionaire saying his $43 billion bid for the social network is his final offer, according to sources consulted. by the Reuters agency.

While Twitter shareholders’ views on a fair price for a deal vary, many have reached out to the company after Musk outlined its acquisition financing plan on Thursday and urged the company not to let go of the deal. opportunity for a deal to slip away, the sources said, on condition of anonymity.

Twitter’s board is expected to assess that Musk’s offer for the company, of $54.20 a share in cash, will be too low after Twitter’s quarterly earnings release, scheduled for Thursday. However, some shareholders who agree with that stance still want Twitter to seek a better offer from Musk, whose net worth is valued by Forbes at $270 billion, the sources told Reuters.

One option available to the Twitter board is to open up their numbers to Musk to try to convince him to improve his offer. Another would be to solicit offers from potential buyers. While it’s not yet clear which way Twitter will go, it’s increasingly likely that its board will try to solicit a better offer from Musk, even if it rejects the current one, the sources said.

One of the fund managers invested in Twitter says, on condition of anonymity, he wouldn’t be surprised to wake up next week to see Musk raise what he called “his best and last offer” to possibly $64.20 a share.

The manager, however, does not rule out the possibility of the billionaire giving up on the acquisition.

Twitter shares closed at $48.93 on Friday, a significant discount from Musk’s offer that reflects uncertainty over the proposal’s fate.

Twitter adopted a “poison pill” after Musk made his offer to stop him from increasing his stake in the company from 9% to 15% without negotiating a deal with his board. In response, Musk threatened to launch a public offering that could be used to gain support from Twitter shareholders.

One concern Twitter’s board is weighing is that unless it looks to negotiate a deal with Musk, many shareholders could back the billionaire in a public offering, the sources said. While the pill prevents Twitter shareholders from offering their shares, the company is concerned about a possible weakening of its trading power after taking a stance contrary to the wishes of many of its investors, the sources added.

Musk, chief executive of electric car maker Tesla, has been meeting with Twitter shareholders since he submitted his proposal on April 14, seeking support for his bid. The billionaire said that Twitter needs to be privately held to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech.

Representatives for Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The “Wall Street Journal” reported on Sunday (24) some of Musk’s meetings with Twitter shareholders. The paper also reported that Musk and Twitter would hold a meeting on Sunday to discuss the takeover bid.