Elon Musk ‘proposes going ahead with Twitter takeover at FULL price of $44BN’ – as trading is halted after shares soar by 13%: Trial over disputed deal was just weeks away
- Musk wrote to Twitter on Tuesday proposing to buy the company again at his original suggested price of $44billion – $54.20 per share
- He had been trying to back out of the takeover, claiming Twitter was dishonest about how many spam accounts used the site
- Twitter fought his attempt to back out and accused him of reckless mischief
- Both sides were due in court in Delaware on October 17 to hash it out
- Musk’s new proposal on Tuesday sent share prices soaring by 13 percent
Elon Musk is once again proposing to buy Twitter at his original offer of $54.20 a share, after trying to back out of the deal in a row over spam accounts, and just weeks before he was due to go to court to settle the dispute.
Trading of shares was halted on Tuesday as news of his offer emerged and drove the company’s share price up by 13 percent.
Musk’s original offer in April was to buy the company for $44billion – 38 percent more than what the market said it was worth at the time.
But after months of back and forth, he tried to back out of the deal in July, citing Twitter’s apparent refusal to hand over enough information about how many spam and bot accounts were active on the site.
Twitter sued him for attempting to back out and the two sides were due to fight it out at a civil trial in just a few weeks.
Tuesday’s new proposal signals an end to that dispute, though it’s unclear what prompted Musk to change his mind.
On Tuesday morning, Musk wrote to Twitter in a letter, proposing to buy the company for $54.20 a share. At the start of trading, shares were at $42.90. After news of his proposal emerged, they rose to $48.13. Now, trading has been halted to stop them from rising further in light of the news
On Tuesday morning, Musk wrote to Twitter in a letter, proposing to buy the company for $54.20 a share – his original offer
In April, Musk announced that he was Twitter’s largest shareholder, owning 9.2 percent of the company.
He then proposed buying he company, speaking publicly about how tired he’d become with its bias and its squashing of free speech.
Months of toeing and froing ensued and Twitter employees were driven into a meltdown at the thought of unpredictable Musk becoming their new boss.
In July, the Tesla billionaire however announced that he wanted to back out of the deal. He said he’d demanded to be shown how many bot accounts were active on the site, and that Twitter had refused.
Twitter then sued him, claiming he couldn’t back out of the deal so suddenly and accusing him of general, reckless mischief.
‘From the outset, defendants’ information requests were designed to try to tank the deal.
‘Musk’s increasingly outlandish requests reflect not a genuine examination of Twitter’s processes but a litigation-driven campaign to try to create a record of noncooperation on Twitter’s part,’ the company’s attorneys said in a filing in July.
Both sides were due to go to trial in Delaware on October 17.
Musk’s chaotic takeover attempt happened six months after Twitter’s long-serving CEO Jack Dorsey announced he was stepping down. He was replaced by Parag Agrawal.
Last week, texts in court filings revealed how Dorsey backed Musk’s takeover from the beginning.
They also showed how he and Agrawal had attempted to reach common ground.
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey (left) had tried to get Musk on the board for at least a year and said he quit after facing opposition from the board. He also offered to smooth things over between Musk and current Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal (right)
Leaked texts revealed how Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s former CEO, backed Musk’s idea. He said: ‘A new platform is needed. It can’t be a company. This is why I left.’
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