It’s official: Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) announced on Monday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Tesla’s CEO 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.
As part of the proposed transaction, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for every share of Twitter common stock they own. Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, when Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in the company, represented a 38% premium to the purchase price.
“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,” Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board Chair, commented.
Musk's Reaction
“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. 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 stated.
Following unanimous approval from the Twitter Board of Directors, the transaction is expected to close by 2022, provided Twitter stockholders approve and regulatory approvals are received.
Musk has committed $25.5 billion in debt and margin loan financing and is providing approximately $21.0 billion in equity. This transaction is not subject to financing conditions, the press release noted. The company plans to release its first quarter fiscal year 2022 results before the market opens on April 28, 2022.
