Twitter Board recommends shareholders approve $44billion sale to Elon Musk
Twitter is asking its shareholders to approve the deal, the board wants the $44billion Elon Musk take-over completed. In a letter to investors included in the SEC filing, the board said it determined that the merger agreement is advisable and the merger and the other transactions, contemplated by the merger and other fair to, advisable and in the best interests of Twitter and its stockholders.
The company’s board also recommended the shareholders approve ” the compensation that will or may become payable by Twitter to its named executive officers in connection with the merger” and the adjournment of the special meeting, to a later date, to solicit additional deputy in case there aren’t enough votes to adopt the merger agreement at the time of the special meeting.” Though the letter didn’t say when the vote will commence, the company’s share price is down considerably from the $54.20 per share that Musk originally offered, he continued to signal his intent to go forward with the deal in a meeting with Twitter employees last week, where he said he wants 1 billion users.
Twitter didn’t provide any other comment. The board’s recommendation wasn’t shocking, since the group had already approved the deal, but it’s the latest step in an ongoing process that had its share of twists and turns. Elon Musk earlier threatened to back out of the deal if Twitter couldn’t give proof that less than 5% of the platform’s accounts were bots. He later accused Twitter of ” actively resisting his request for information on bots. But the company reportedly agreed to provide the data.
The bot issue and shareholder approval are two of the three things that need to be resolved before the deal can be completed. Musk said in an interview. The third issue is if the debt portion of the deal will come together according to Musk.
Musk signalled that he’d be open to a renegotiation of the terms of the deal, that as lower price isn’t out of the question.” Though Twitter has decided it doesn’t intend to renegotiate the deal that’s in place. Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey in April stated that he supports the deal, saying Musk is the only solution he trusts. As of Thursday Elon Musk fielded questions from Twitter employees, who reportedly asked the billionaire how his proposed $44 billion acquisition of the social media service could affect everything from content moderation to remote work.
Musk said to the company’s more than 7500 employees that he is committed to both a diverse workplace and adverse user base, Musk who also runs electric car maker Telsa and rocket maker Space X, expressed hopes the company’s user base can reach at least 1 billion people, which he reportedly said would be the most explicit definition of inclusiveness. Twitter has roughly 230 million daily users. According to its most recent update.
He suggested a laissez – fare approach to content moderately. ” We should allow people to air their opinion,” he told Twitter employees. The remarks come amid speculation that went viral that Musk is trying to renegotiate or cancel the deal he struck in April to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share. The price constituted a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price as of April 1, when Musk revealed he had built up a more than 9% stake in the publicly-traded company. Musk intends to take Twitter private. Since Twitter announced the deal, the company’s shares have fallen amid concerns about the deal and a broader market sell-off. On Thursday Twitter shares rose 1.1% to 38.40 in early afternoon trading neither Twitter nor Musk’s lawyer responded to requests for comment. Musk has said he wants to purchase Twitter to safeguard free speech, a term he uses vaguely.
The deal has appeared to be on the rocks as Musk has said taken issues with Twitter’s assessment of bots on the service. As of last week, Musk’s lawyer Mike Ringler forwarded a letter to Twitter accusing the company of a social network of refusing to provide Musk with information about spam and fake accounts. Twitter’s shareholders still need to approve the deal in a special meeting that’s expected to take place by early August.
