Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk left investors in the dark this weekend, issuing a cryptic tweet with the word “tender”.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk caught investors’ attention this weekend, issuing a cryptic tweet with the word “bid,” a possible reference to winks and nods in relation to a topic. potential tender for shareholders of Twitter Inc. to control the company.
The world’s richest man caused a stir last week after he submitted a $43 billion proposal offering $54.20 a share for the social network, prompting Twitter to adopt a so-called drug clause. poison on Friday to make it more difficult for Musk or a group of investors to buy more shares.
If Twitter execs end up turning him down, the world might know whether Musk is actually threatening to attract shareholders directly or has just added Elvis Presley’s 1956 hit “Love Me Tender” to the list. your playbook.
Musk may try to team up with investors including Oracle Corp., as co-founder Larry Ellison sits on Tesla Inc.’s board, along with a group of private equity firms including Thoma Bravo, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Ashley Kim write Friday. That partnership could raise the bid to $50 billion, they write.
An acquisition is far from certain even without the supply of poisons and defensive tactics from the company’s board. Musk said at an April 14 TED conference that he was “not sure” whether he could actually buy the company, adding that he had a backup plan, without giving details. detail.
Over the weekend, Musk said the economic interests of the Twitter board did not align with shareholders. He responded to a tweet about the board members’ stock holdings, saying that with the departure of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, the board “owns virtually no collective stock.” .” He previously tweeted that the board risks liability if it acts against shareholders.
Dorsey, who remains on the company’s board until the end of the year, has also taken the unusual step of criticizing his managers on the platform. Dorsey wrote of Twitter’s board: “It’s always been a mess of the company.
With all eyes on the battle for Twitter, which side are the Wall Street banks on? Twitter has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the latter of which had previously argued with Musk over the valuation of hundreds of millions of dollars in Tesla warrants. Morgan Stanley is advising Musk.
Twitter shares are up about 15% since Musk revealed a 9.2% stake in the company on April 4 but at $45.08 on April 14, very cautious about the asking price. their own, reflecting doubts that an agreement will be made. Tesla fell 9.2% during the same period, as its investors grapple with the prospect of its CEO getting distracted with another public company or passion project. The electric-vehicle maker is also under pressure in China, where its giant Shanghai auto factory has had to close for weeks due to the region’s Covid-19 shutdown.
Later this week, Tesla will report first-quarter earnings after posting record deliveries for the first three months of the year. Analysts are estimating revenue of about $17.8 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.27 a share.
“Tesla’s next phase of growth depends largely on removing capacity constraints in Europe as the Berlin plant begins deliveries,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Kevin Tynan and Andreas Krohn wrote. wrote last week. “The pace of adoption and the ensuing competition – with the subsidies and government regulatory environment more intense – further fueled the urgency of building out the bulk of the nameplates abroad.”
