Twitter Takeover: Negotiations With Elon Musk Kicks Off Under Shareholder Pressure

The talks began after the technocrat tried to win many of the social media company's shareholders by revealing financing details on his $43 billion acquisition offer

Tesla CEO Elon Musk had made $43 billion acquisition offer to Twitter (Photo: Getty Images)

New Delhi: Giving a fillip to the hyped takeover bid, Twitter has kicked off negotiations with Tesla chief Elon Musk on Sunday. The talks began after the technocrat tried to win many of the social media company's shareholders by revealing financing details on his $43 billion acquisition offer, according to the source of the news agency Reuters.

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The idea to engage with Musk does not indicate that Twitter will accept his $54.20 per share bid, the sources added. It means that the social media is exploring whether a sale of the company to Musk is possible on attractive terms, added the sources.

Musk has been holding meetings with Twitter shareholders’ eying his bid. Musk insisted that Twitter should go private in order to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech.

Many shareholders of the social media company reached out to the company after Musk shared a detailed financing plan for his bid last week and urged them not to miss the opportunity to strike a deal, according to the report.

Musk's insistence that his bid remains the "best and final" has come as a hurdle in the negotiations, the sources said.

On its part, Twitter's board has decided to hold talks with Musk to get more details on the ability to complete the deal, and potentially get better terms, added the sources.

However, it is not clear whether Twitter will consider a sale to put pressure on Musk to raise his bid. Twitter wants to get more details about any active investigations by regulators into Musk, including by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that would present a risk to the deal being completed, the Reuters report quoted sources.