DAccording to insiders, the management of Twitter is under pressure from shareholders in negotiations with Tesla boss Elon Musk about his bid for the short message service. The decision was made on Sunday and does not mean that Twitter will accept Musk’s offer of $54.20 per share, several people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday. Twitter is only checking whether the company can be sold to Musk on attractive terms. According to the insiders, some shareholders want to get a higher price. Meanwhile, Bloomberg news agency, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that both sides could finalize a deal this week.
Musk had described his offer as his best and last. Shares closed at $48.93 on Friday, reflecting market uncertainty about the prospects of the takeover bid. Statements from Twitter and Musk were initially not available.
According to insiders, the ideas of the shareholders about the desired price differ and also depend on the respective investment strategy. Long-term active investors, who, along with passive index funds, own most of Twitter’s stock, would want higher valuations, sometimes in excess of $60. On the other hand, more short-term shareholders like hedge funds wanted to either accept Musk’s offer or ask for only a small premium. Some of them feared that the American group would not be able to achieve a higher valuation on its own given the recent price losses in technology stocks, it said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday about Musk’s meetings with Twitter shareholders. According to Forbes, the richest man in the world presented his offer for a total of 43 billion dollars in mid-April. He has stated that Twitter must be delisted in order to become a global platform for freedom of expression. The Internet group’s management has launched a strategy known as the “poison pill” to ward off the takeover. Twitter is expected to report business figures on Thursday.
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