Elon Musk looks to exit Twitter takeover
It’s now been six weeks since the Twitter board agreed to a $44-billion hostile takeover offer from Elon Musk — so where are things placed at this stage?
After much speculation, it now appears that Musk is indeed looking to pull out of the deal entirely, according to a new SEC filing.
In a letter sent to Twitter’s Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, Musk’s team has asserted that Twitter has breached the terms of the takeover deal by refusing to provide more insight into the number of fake profiles on its platform, which Twitter pegs at five per cent of its active user count. Musk himself has publicly questioned this figure, and now, he appears to be looking to use this as a means to back out of his takeover bid.
“Based on Twitter’s behaviour to date, and the company’s latest correspondence in particular, Mr Musk believes the company is actively resisting and thwarting his information rights (and the company’s corresponding obligations) under the merger agreement. This is a clear material breach of Twitter’s obligations under the merger agreement and Mr Musk reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement.”