Twitter has announced it will sell the company to Elon Musk for $54.20 per share, or $44 billion. Once complete the sale will take Twitter private.
“Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing of the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter,” said Twitter in a press release.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” said Musk in a statement. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
“The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders,” said Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board Chair.
“Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important,” said Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s CEO.
The deal is expected to close in 2022, subject to the approval of Twitter’s stockholders. Musk has secured $25.5 billion “of fully committed debt and margin loan financing and is providing an approximately $21.0 billion equity commitment.” No financing conditions are present to close the deal.
Twitter Q1 2022 earnings will be announced before market open on April 28, 2022. No conference call will be held due to the pending transaction announced today.
“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” said Musk on Monday morning.
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
…developing, more to follow
