Twitter Board Says Planning To Enforce Elon Musk's $44-Billion Takeover Agreement

Elon Musk stoked speculation seeking to renegotiate the takeover bid and said at a tech meet in Miami that a viable deal at a lower price wouldn't be “out of the question”

New Delhi: The board of micro-blogging platform, Twitter, has said that it plans to enforce its $44-billion deal to be bought by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, saying the transaction is in the best interest of all shareholders, according to a news report by Bloomberg.

In a statement, the Twitter board said, “We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement,” while adding that the directors voted earlier unanimously recommended that shareholders approve Musk’s $54.20-a-share offer.

According to the proposed takeover that includes a $1 billion break-up fee for each party, which the Tesla CEO will have to pay if he ends the agreement or fails to deliver the buyout funding as promised.

However, Musk might be released from that requirement if he can show a material change in the Twitter’s situation or the information it has provided.

The statement of the board comes at a time when Musk has hinted to ditch or renegotiate his offer.

Last week, the world’s richest man said that the deal was “on hold” until he gets more information, specifically proof from Twitter that so-called spam bots make up less than 5per cent of its subscribers.

Again on Monday, he stoked speculation that he could seek to renegotiate the takeover. Musk said at a tech meet in Miami that a viable deal at a lower price wouldn't be “out of the question.”

According to the report, Twitter has said it’s committed to completing the sale.

The shares of the social media platform, which had slumped for seven straight trading days, closed up 2.5 per cent to $38.32 on Tuesday. Still, that figure is well below the price that Musk has offered.