Twitter formalizes its acquisition by Elon Musk for 44 billion dollars

Twitter announcement today having validated the takeover offer of Elon Musk which amounts to 44 billion dollars, or 54.20 dollars per share. The boss of Tesla and SpaceX is therefore the new owner of the social network, which will become a private company and no longer be listed on the stock exchange.

Elon Musk buys Twitter, it’s official!

Elon Musk initially announced his takeover offer on April 14. The announced amount was already $54.20 per share, which represented a significant premium over the previous price. The online platform had initially shown signs that it was not necessarily interested in this offer. In particular, there have been measures with the “poison pill”. But the situation evolved this weekend with new discussions.

Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter shareholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of the online platform they own upon closing of the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a 38% premium to the closing price of Twitter stock on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Elon Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter. .

Elon Musk has secured $25.5 billion in fully committed debt and margin loan financing and is providing a capital commitment of approximately $21 billion. There are no financing conditions at the closing of the transaction.

Twitter’s board of directors has unanimously approved the takeover by Elon Musk for $44 billion. The social network expects the transaction to be completed in the course of 2022, without further details. It now requires Twitter shareholder approval, receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Leaders’ statements

Bret Taylor, Chairman of Twitter’s Independent Board of Directors, said:

Twitter’s Board of Directors conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty and funding. The proposed transaction will generate a substantial cash bonus, and we believe it is the best way forward for Twitter shareholders.

Parag Agrawal, the boss of the social network, indicates:

Twitter has purpose and relevance that impacts the world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.

And finally, Elon Musk himself:

Freedom of expression is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital public square where issues vital to the future of humanity are debated. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by improving the product with new features, making algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating spambots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has enormous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the user community to unlock it.

Incidentally, Twitter says it will release its first-quarter 2022 financial results on April 28. It was already planned. On the other hand, the social network announces that there will be no phone call with the analysts after the publication of the results, contrary to usual.