Twitter’s current leadership reiterated its call for shareholders to approve the proposed $44 billion acquisition of the firm led by Elon Musk, but the billionaire Tesla CEO separately warned of “unresolved” issues holding up the transaction.
In an SEC filing, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and Chairman Bret Taylor both urged shareholders to vote in favor of the deal in an upcoming special meeting. They noted that shareholders would receive $54.20 for each share of Twitter stock they own. After news of the filing started to circulate, the stock rose nearly 3% in early trading to around $38.76. It has lost more than 20% of its value since the merger plan was revealed in April, though most tech shares have seen a similar downturn amid worsening economic conditions.
Meanwhile, Musk offered a decidedly gloomy outlook on the economy in an appearance at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, and also noted that several “unresolved” issues remained as impediments to the Twitter deal closing. He said a recession “is inevitable at some point,” adding that the a near-term recession is “more likely than not.”
As to the status of the Twitter takeover, which is backed by more than a dozen other investors, Musk flashed a yellow light and indicated that his previously stated concerns about the number of phony “bot” accounts have not been allayed. “There’s a limit to what I can say publicly,” he said. “It is somewhat of a sensitive matter.”
Musk would have to pay a breakup fee of $1 billion if he were to decide to abandon the Twitter deal, but he has already advised Twitter of that possibility. In its latest SEC filing, Twitter warned shareholders that if the deal does not go through, “the price of our common stock may decline significantly.”
