By Cristian Bustos. Originally published at ValueWalk.
Twitter Inc (NASDAQ:TWTR) announced Monday that it had accepted Elon Musk’s offer to buy the social media platform for $44 billion. Although many users protested the acquisition, Musk said the deal would not affect the company or its policies.
Offer Accepted
In a press release, according to Reuters, Twitter reported it has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by billionaire Elon Musk, under which the company’s shareholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share they own.
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“The purchase price represents a 38% premium to the closing price of Twitter stock on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter,” the company explained.
Once the deal closes, Twitter will become a private company. The announcement came a day after Twitter’s board of directors met on Sunday to discuss Musk’s offer.
Trading of Twitter shares in the S&P 500 index on the New York Stock Exchange was briefly suspended during the midday session due to the pending purchase agreement.
“Twitter’s board of directors undertook a thoughtful and comprehensive process to evaluate Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and funding,” said Twitter Independent Board Chairman Bret Taylor.
Furthering The Platform?
Taylor added, “The proposed transaction will generate a substantial cash premium and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter shareholders.”
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal acknowledged that the company has “a purpose and a relevance that impacts the entire world.”
While many Twitter users protested loudly on social media amid the purchase deal, Musk tried to reassure them that the deal would not affect the company or its policies.
“Freedom of expression is the foundation of a functioning democracy and Twitter is a digital public square where vital issues for the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said.
“I also want Twitter to be better than ever, improving the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating spambots, and authenticating all humans,” he added.
The entrepreneur assured that “Twitter has enormous potential” and said he hopes to “work with the company and the user community to unleash it.” Previously, former US President Donald Trump said he would not return to Twitter even if Musk’s bid was successful.
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