Musk said he has letters of commitment to finance the deal, including two letters of commitment from Morgan Stanley and other unnamed financial institutions and a letter of commitment from his equity, according to documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. .
Musk said in the paperwork that he has not yet received a formal response from Twitter’s offer to acquire all of his shares, which he does not currently own, for $ 54.20 in cash, a deal that would value the company at about $ 41 billion. . He said he was “seeking to negotiate” a certain acquisition agreement and “is ready to start such negotiations immediately” – apparently canceling his statement in his letter proposing that this would be his “best and final” offer. Questions about whether Musk would actually be able to fund his acquisition on Twitter revolved around the days after his takeover offer, especially after he said in an interview on the day of his proposal that “I’m not sure I can actually do that. acquire [Twitter]”
Although he is the richest man in the world, much of Musk’s wealth is tied to Tesla shares, and some followers have speculated that it could be a challenge for Musk to raise debt against historically volatile shares.
Although the Twitter board has not officially responded to Musk’s proposal, he introduced the so-called poison pill on Friday, a safeguard that could make it difficult for him (or any other investor) to buy or take a controlling stake in the company without his approval.
Musk said in a statement Thursday that he was “investigating” whether to launch a tender offer – a move to buy Twitter shares directly from shareholders, which could put additional pressure on the board – but “has not decided whether to do so in this moment of time. ” Musk had previously hinted at the possibility of a tender offer in several recent mocking tweets, including one with a word to fill in the blanks, followed by “it’s night.”
Morgan Stanley did not respond immediately to requests for comment. In a statement, Brendan Lee, a Twitter spokesman, said the company had received an “updated, non-binding offer” from Musk and “new information on potential funding.”
“As previously announced and communicated directly to Mr. Musk, the Board is committed to conducting a careful, comprehensive and deliberate review to determine the course of action that it considers to be in the best interests of the Company and all shareholders. on Twitter, “Lee said.
Shares of Twitter (TWTR) rose about 1% to just over $ 47 on Thursday morning after filing before giving up those gains. It remains well below Musk’s offer of $ 54.20 per share, which may indicate some skepticism among investors about the likelihood of the deal failing. Musk had previously found himself in hot water after saying on Twitter in 2018 that he had secured funding to make Tesla (TSLA) private at $ 420 a share, when the agency said it had not actually done so. Musk eventually agreed to a $ 20 million deal with the SEC, which called for him to step down as chairman of Tesla’s board and have certain tweets about the company approved in advance by lawyers. (Musk recently doubled in number by saying he did have funding secured, prompting a group of Tesla shareholders to sue Tesla’s CEO for wanting a judge to shut him down.) There are indications that other potential Twitter candidates can go around in a circle. . Reuters reported last week that buyout firm Bravo has turned to Twitter to potentially make its own takeover bid to rival Musk. (Toma Bravo previously declined to comment on the report.) Asset management and lending company Apollo Global Management has also contacted several countries, considering Twitter offers to potentially help finance the deal, a source familiar with the company told CNN Business. Monday, although it is unclear whether they are parties to a Musk-related bid or other bidders.
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