Twitter Inc is poised to agree a sale to Elon Musk for around $43 billion in cash, the price the CEO of Tesla has called his "best and final" offer for the social media company, people familiar with the matter said.

Twitter may announce the $54.20-per-share deal later on Monday once its board has met to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, the sources said, adding it was still possible the deal could collapse at the last minute.

Musk, the world's richest person according to Forbes, is negotiating to buy Twitter in a personal capacity and Tesla (TSLA.O) is not involved in the deal.

Twitter has not been able to secure so far a 'go-shop' provision under its agreement with Musk that would allow it to solicit other bids once the deal is signed, the sources said. Still, Twitter would be allowed to accept an offer from another party by paying Musk a break-up fee, the sources added.

The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential. Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Twitter shares were up 4.5% in pre-market trading in New York at $51.15.

Musk, a prolific Twitter user, has said it needs to be taken private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech.

The 50-year-old entrepreneur, who is also CEO of rocket developer SpaceX, has said he wants to combat trolls on Twitter and proposed changes to the Twitter Blue premium subscription service, including slashing its price and banning advertising.

The billionaire, a vocal advocate of cryptocurrencies, has also suggested adding dogecoin as a payment option on Twitter.

He has said Twitter's current leadership team is incapable of getting the company's stock to his offer price on its own, but stopped short of saying it needs to be replaced.

"The company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form," Musk said in his offer letter last week.

Up to the point Musk disclosed a stake in Twitter in April, the company's shares had fallen about 10% since Parag Agrawal took over as CEO from founder Jack Dorsey in late November.

The deal, if it happens, would come just four days after Musk unveiled a financing package to back the acquisition.

This led Twitter's board to take his offer more seriously and many shareholders to ask the company not to let the opportunity for a deal slip away, Reuters reported on Sunday. Before Musk revealed the financing package, Twitter's board was expected to reject the bid, sources had said

The sale would represent an admission by Twitter that Agrawal is not making enough traction in making the company more profitable, despite being on track to meet ambitious financial goals the company set for 2023. Twitter's shares were trading higher than Musk's offer price as recently as November.

Musk unveiled his intention to buy Twitter on April 14 and take it private via a financing package comprised of equity and debt. Wall Street's biggest lenders, except those advising Twitter, have all committed to provide debt financing.

Musk's negotiating tactics - making one offer and sticking with it - resembles how another billionaire, Warren Buffett, negotiates acquisitions. Musk did not provide any financing details when he first disclosed his offer for Twitter, making the market skeptical about its prospects.

SOURCE

https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-twitter-set-accept-musks-best-final-offer-sources-2022-04-25/

Great

This life.

Just have money.

Eager to see how well Musk ownership will turn out to be. He has always said he is a big fan of free speech and no one should be denied of it. He was against Trump's Twitter ban then.

So, let's see if Trump's return will be his first order of business.

There is Nothing that money cannot buy

PrinceOfLagos:
There is Nothing that money cannot buy

Omo Igbo, na like so Nigeria take send Jack back to d village o
I dey tell ipob terrorists before say dem go use dem badluck finish jack las las . Shakara don end, useless loss making company. Suspension from Nigeria follow wreck dem so tey dem fire Jack and now about to sell Twitter as carcass.Shiorr

Nigerialabalaba:

Omo Igbo, na like so Nigeria take send Jack back to d village o
I dey tell ipob terrorists before say dem go use dem badluck finish jack las las . Shakara don end, useless loss making company. Suspension from Nigeria follow wreck dem so tey dem fire Jack and now about to sell Twitter as carcass.Shiorr

You are ignorant as fuçk.

Jack being a co-founder was the CEO at some point but he has stepped down now. Jack's stake in Twitter is around 2% and this sale means a big cash out for him although it also means he loses his controlling rights/shares.

It's a huge pay day for him.

DontBullshitMe:

You are ignorant as fuçk.

Jack being a co-founder was the CEO at some point but he has stepped down now. Jack's stake in Twitter is around 2% and this sale means a big cash out for him although it also means he loses his controlling rights/shares.

It's a huge pay day for him.

Olodo, no be so e dey work. If u wan sell a loss making company like Twitter, u must take haircut on wetin u suppose collect before new owner go take over d gbese. As things dey so, nobody go cash out if d books no clean and cleared by SEC. Dia go still be marathon of meetings between both teams and regulators.

U no dey cash out selling debt ridden company and dat yeye you dey say dat Jack stepped down na bunkum. Dem fire am! He was incompetent and reckless so tey Nigeria ,one of dem cash cows suspend twitter under hin watch at a time investors dey bleed.

Na dat Nigeria suspension of twitter kill Jack career and Twitter.

$43B?

That's a whooping several trillion naira oh? Is that not more than Nigeria 2022 budget?

And that's what Elon Musk alone wants to pay to acquire a company?

How these people dey make dis kind money sef?

Watch one church rat online billionaire who hasn't eaten since morning soon enter my mention with some mumbo jumbo tales about making money instead of being a patriot.

LeoDeKing:
$43B?

That's a whooping several trillion naira oh? Is that not more than Nigeria 2022 budget?

And that's what Elon Musk alone wants to pay to acquire a company?

How these people dey make dis kind money sef?

Watch one church rat online billionaire who hasn't eaten since morning soon enter my mention with some mumbo jumbo tales about making money instead of being a patriot.

Elon Musk does not have 43 billion dollars liquidity now (I doubt anyone does). He wont solely provide funding. Some Financial institutions will debt finance the acquisition.

Einsteine.

As an Economist, what do you think about this Elon Musk's move?

DontBullshitMe:

Elon Musk does not have 43 billion dollars liquidity now (I doubt anyone does). He wont solely provide funding. Some Financial institutions will debt finance the acquisition.

Oh.

Thanks.

The thing for surprise me oh.

I was thinking he will issue a cheque of $43B.

DontBullshitMe:
Einsteine.

As an Economist, what do you think about this Elon Musk's move?

It's a vanity purchase.

Taking Twitter private allows Musk more political power but it doesn't make economic sense. He is planning to cancel a lot of the revenue generation moves the current executives were planning. His move is no different from billionaires buying newspapers so they can have their own media tool.

einsteine:


It's a vanity purchase.

Taking Twitter private allows Musk more political power but it doesn't make economic sense. He is planning to cancel a lot of the revenue generation moves the current executives were planning. His move is no different from billionaires buying newspapers so they can have their own media tool.

Brilliant submission.