Musk Agrees to Acquire Twitter for 55 Trillion Won... Board Says "Best Path for Shareholders"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Seulgina Cho] Twitter has accepted the acquisition offer from Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.

On the 25th (local time), Twitter announced that it had agreed to be sold at $54.20 per share, totaling $44 billion (approximately 55.11 trillion KRW), as proposed by Musk. This comes 11 days after Musk officially declared his intention to acquire Twitter on the 14th. Once the deal is completed, Twitter will become a privately held company.

Brett Taylor, chairman of Twitter's board, stated, "The board evaluated Musk's proposal focusing on value, certainty, and financing," adding, "It offers a significant cash premium, which we believe is the best path forward for Twitter shareholders." The $54.20 per share price represents a 38% premium based on the price before Musk's investment news was made public.

Musk said in a statement, "Freedom of expression is the foundation of democracy," and added, "I want to improve the product with new features, increase trust through open algorithms, eliminate spam bots, and verify everyone to make Twitter better than ever. Twitter has tremendous potential."

Initially, Twitter appeared to reject Musk's acquisition offer outright, even activating a poison pill to defend against a hostile takeover. In response, Musk hinted at a hostile takeover bid through a tender offer. However, Twitter shifted to a more positive stance after Musk detailed his plan to raise substantial acquisition funds in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the 21st. Musk plans to raise a total of $46.5 billion through debt and equity financing.

Twitter is scheduled to announce its first-quarter earnings on the 28th.

On the New York Stock Exchange this afternoon, Twitter's stock was trading around $52, up more than 6% from the previous close. Meanwhile, Tesla's stock fell more than 1%, dropping below $1,000.