Breaking:
Epoch Times reported: Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk has secured the required financing to buy Twitter and take the company private, according to a new regulatory filing. Musk is also exploring a tender offer to buy shares from stockholders directly.
The document shows that Musk has received $46.5 billion in commitment to help finance the proposed deal. If he decides to go ahead with a tender offer, he will approach Twitter shareholders and offer to buy their shares within a specific time frame. He is, however, still considering whether to launch a tender offer for Twitter.
Musk, the richest man in the world, has secured $25.5 billion in debt financing from Morgan Stanley Senior Funding and other financial institutions, including Bank of America, Barclays, and Mizuho. He has also committed to provide $21 billion in equity financing, according to the document.
Musk is seeking to negotiate a “definitive agreement” with the board for the acquisition of Twitter.
“Twitter has not responded to the proposal,” Musk says according to the filing. “Given the lack of response by Twitter,” he is “exploring whether to commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares” at a price of $54.20 per share.
The purchase will include the rights associated with the Rights Agreement (the poison pill), the filing stated.
Elon Musk’s efforts to takeover and restore Twitter to its free speech origins rumble on, with the billionaire tweeting that once he is in charge the rest of the board will have their salaries reduced to zero, En-Volve reported.
Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2022
Musk tweeted the response to investment advisor Gary Black, who noted that the primary reason Twitter board members voted against Musk’s offer on the company is because they’d be out of cushy jobs that pay them massive amounts for doing basically nothing.
The New York Post suggests that Musk is shifting his strategy and going after Twitter with “a complex deal that raises debt against both the company and possibly his own stock, as well as a giant cash equity infusion from co-investors.”
Citing sources close to Musk, the Post suggests that he is planning to put in $10-$15 billion of his own money to take the company private, along with $20 billion from outside investors who will own more stock than Musk while ensuring he would remain as the largest shareholder.
The report also claims that Musk has hired Morgan Stanley to raise $10 billion in debt against Twitter “in the manner of a traditional leveraged buyout.”
The report further suggests that the co-investors “will finance a hostile tender offer directly to Twitter shareholders,” and that “Musk is planning to launch the tender offer for Twitter in 10 days or so.”
