Twitter Jumps Over 5% Amid Reports That It Will Accept Elon Musk’s Buyout Offer

The topline

Twitter shares surged more than 5% following reports that Twitter was in negotiations to sell itself to Elon Musk (the billionaire Tesla), with an announcement expected as soon as today.

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Here are some key facts

Twitter’s stock moved higher again on Monday as investors cheered reports that the company’s board of directors have been negotiating with Musk over his buyout offer.

Twitter’s board is considering accepting Musk’s original offer of $54.20 per share in cash, which values the company at around $43 billion, and looks to be nearing a deal to sell the company, several publications have reported.

Twitter’s board reportedly met on Sunday to negotiate Musk’s offer and a formal announcement is now expected by later on Monday, though terms of a deal are still unclear, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Twitter was until recently expected to decline Musk’s offer to buy the company and take it private, having adopted a so-called poison pill to fend off any hostile takeover.

But the board now appears to be more receptive to Musk’s acquisition offer, especially after the Tesla billionaire revealed in an SEC filing last week that he had secured $46.5 billion in financing.

The latest reports may be a “turning point” and “likely came from the Board’s realization that an alternative bid from a ‘white knight’ may be difficult to come by, especially following the decline in asset prices from social media companies in recent weeks/months,” says Angelo Zino, senior equity analyst at CFRA.

Surprising Fact

Twitter’s stock is up over 30% this month, with the majority of gains coming after Musk first announced his offer to buy the social media platform earlier this month.

Important Quote

“The Board’s willingness to have a constructive conversation along with financing in place improves the likelihood that a deal could come to fruition,” says Zino. “Despite Twitter’s tactic to instill a ‘poison pill,’ it appears that Elon does have the Board backed into a corner.”

Important Background

Wall Street analysts were divided when Musk made his unwelcome offer to purchase Twitter earlier in the month. Some experts predicted that the “soap opera” would end with Musk acquiring the company, while others remained highly skeptical and downgraded Twitter’s stock amid the uncertainty. The vast majority of analysts maintain a “hold” rating on Twitter shares as the market waits to see what happens with Musk’s potential takeover.

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