Elon Musk proposes going ahead with Twitter takeover at FULL price of $44BN – as trading is halted after shares soar by 13%: Trial over disputed deal was just weeks away
- Musk wrote to Twitter on Tuesday proposing to buy the company again at his original suggested price of $44billion – $54.20 per share
- He had been trying to back out of the takeover, claiming Twitter was dishonest about how many spam accounts used the site
- Twitter fought his attempt to back out and accused him of reckless mischief
- Both sides were due in court in Delaware on October 17 to hash it out
- His sudden U-turn on Tuesday means he could own the company within days
- Musk’s new proposal on Tuesday sent share prices soaring by 13 percent on Tuesday as shareholders tried to cash in on the news
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){ var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0]; s.src = src; prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev); }(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!– DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
Elon Musk has backed down in his legal fight against Twitter and is once again proposing to buy the company for $44billion in a sudden about-turn weeks before they were due to go to trial.
Musk changed course because he and his legal team thought they would lose at trial anyway, according to sources cited by Bloomberg on Tuesday.
Had he lost, he would have been ordered by a Delaware court to go ahead with the sale after a costly and embarrassing battle.
The judge presiding over the dispute is Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, who recently rejected his request to delay the trial and who he feared might not rule in his favor, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
If the deal goes through, Musk would own the company within a matter of weeks. He has not commented publicly about the new offer.
Instead, he tweeted about his internet satellites not making money on Tuesday and asked his followers for ‘support’.
Trading of shares was halted on Tuesday as news of his offer emerged and drove the company’s share price up by 13 percent.
On Tuesday morning, Musk wrote to Twitter in a letter, proposing to buy the company for $54.20 a share – his original offer
On Tuesday morning, Musk wrote to Twitter in a letter, proposing to buy the company for $54.20 a share. At the start of trading, shares were at $42.90. After news of his proposal emerged, they rose to $48.13. Now, trading has been halted to stop them from rising further in light of the news
He has not commented publicly about the new offer. Instead, he tweeted about his internet satellites not making money on Tuesday and asked his followers for ‘support’
Musk’s original offer in April was to buy the company for $44billion – 38 percent more than what the market said it was worth at the time.
But after months of back and forth, he tried to back out of the deal in July, citing Twitter’s apparent refusal to hand over enough information about how many spam and bot accounts were active on the site.
Twitter sued him for attempting to back out and the two sides were due to fight it out at a civil trial in just a few weeks.
Tuesday’s new proposal signals an end to that dispute, though it’s unclear what prompted Musk to change his mind.
Read Related Also: Fifty Shades of Grey star looks unrecognisable with new platinum blonde hair
He now is likely to own the company within days, sources cited by CNBC said.
It comes within days of super agent Ari Emanuel, one of Musk’s friends, urging Twitter to come to a settlement with him ahead of the court date.
Hollywood titan Emanuel recently contacted Egon Durban, a member of Twitter’s board, urging him to end the dispute.
Emanuel is friends with both Musk and Durban, who sits on the board of his company, Endeavor.
Musk’s retreat from the court battle signals a surprising end to the months-long saga.
In April, Musk announced that he was Twitter’s largest shareholder, owning 9.2 percent of the company.
He then proposed buying he company, speaking publicly about how tired he’d become with its bias and its squashing of free speech.
Months of toeing and froing ensued and Twitter employees were driven into a meltdown at the thought of unpredictable Musk becoming their new boss.
In July, the Tesla billionaire however announced that he wanted to back out of the deal. He said he’d demanded to be shown how many bot accounts were active on the site, and that Twitter had refused.
Musk feared Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, who recently rejected his request to delay the trial, would not rule in his favor, according to Bloomberg
Twitter then sued him, claiming he couldn’t back out of the deal so suddenly and accusing him of general, reckless mischief.
‘From the outset, defendants’ information requests were designed to try to tank the deal.
‘Musk’s increasingly outlandish requests reflect not a genuine examination of Twitter’s processes but a litigation-driven campaign to try to create a record of noncooperation on Twitter’s part,’ the company’s attorneys said in a filing in July.
Both sides were due to go to trial in Delaware on October 17.
Musk’s chaotic takeover attempt happened six months after Twitter’s long-serving CEO Jack Dorsey announced he was stepping down.
He was replaced by Parag Agrawal.
Leaked texts revealed how Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s former CEO, backed Musk’s idea. He said: ‘A new platform is needed. It can’t be a company. This is why I left.’
Texts from April 9 (above) reveal a fallout between Musk and Agrawal. Musk had offered suggestions on how to improve the website and seemed eager to join the board. When he was ignored, he said he was going to offer to take the company private and that trying to improve it was a ‘waste of time’
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey (left) had tried to get Musk on the board for at least a year and said he quit after facing opposition from the board. He also offered to smooth things over between Musk and current Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal (right)
At first, Musk was invited onto the board of the current, publicly-listed Twitter.
He exchanged friendly text messages with Agrawal and seemed eager to improve the site.
But when his suggestions were ignored, he went nuclear – threatening to buy Twitter and take it private to enact the changes he believes the site needs.
‘This is a waste of time,’ he fumed at Agrawal in a text in April before he tweeted about the site.
The texts were revealed in court filings last week, along with others by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who was enthusiastic about Musk joining the board.
‘I’m not joining the board, this is a waste of time,’ Musk told Agrawal on April 9th.
Advertisement
