[ad_1]
Elon Musk said he has raised $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter and is trying to negotiate a deal with the company.
Last week, Musk announced an offer to buy the social media company for $54.20 per share, or about $43 billion. At the time, he did not say how he would finance the purchase.
The Tesla CEO said in documents submitted to US securities regulators on Thursday that he is investigating what is known as a tender offer to buy all common shares of the social media platform for $54.20 per share in cash. Musk, who owns about 9% of Twitter shares, would bypass the board and take his bid directly to other shareholders, as part of a tender offer.
However, Musk has not yet decided whether he will do this.
Documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission say that San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. did not respond to Musk’s offer.
Last week, Twitter’s board passed a “poison pill” defense that could make a takeover attempt prohibitively expensive.
The dossier states that “(Musk)-related organizations have received letters of commitment committing to providing a total of approximately $46.5 billion.”
Funding will come from Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions. Some will be secured by the stock Musk owns in electric car and solar panel maker Tesla. Other banks involved include Barclays, Bank of America, Societie Generale, Mizuho Bank, BNP Paribas and MUFG.
Shares of Twitter fell slightly to $46.69 in trading Thursday morning after funding went public. The share price is $7.51 below Musk’s bid.
The documents say that Musk is “trying to negotiate a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Twitter and is ready to begin such negotiations immediately.”
With a tender offer, Musk would try to pledge the shares of other shareholders to him at a certain price on a certain date. If enough shareholders agree, Musk can use that as leverage to get the board to drop his poison pill defense.
Musk has signaled the possibility of bidding several times this week, using the word “tender” in his tweets.
A message was left on Twitter on Thursday asking for comment.
[ad_2]
Source link