Twitter board to evaluate Musk's 'unsolicited, non-binding' $43B offer
Darpan News Desk IANS, 14 Apr, 2022 02:59 PM
San Francisco, April 14 (IANS) Twitter on Thursday said it will carefully review the "unsolicited, non-binding" proposal from Tesla CEO Elon Musk to acquire the micro-blogging platform for more than $43 billion.
"The Twitter Board of Directors will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company and all Twitter stockholders," the micro-blogging platform said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, Musk made an offer to buy 100 per cent of Twitter at $54.20 per share, a 54 per cent premium over the closing price of Twitter on January 28, 2022, the trading day before Musk began investing in the company.
This is a 38 per cent premium over the closing price of Twitter on April 1, 2022, the trading day before Musk's investment in Twitter was publicly announced.
"I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy," Musk said in the filing.
"However, since making my investment I now realise the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company."
In a letter to Twitter's board, Musk said he believes Twitter "will neither thrive nor serve societal imperative in its current form".
"If the deal doesn't work, given that I don't have confidence in management nor do I believe I can drive the necessary change in the public market, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder," he added.
Earlier this week, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced that Musk will not join the board of the company, saying that "he believes it is for the best".
The Indian-origin CEO last week said the micro-blogging platform has appointed Musk to its board of directors.
Musk, who acquired 9.2 per cent share in the micro-blogging platform for nearly $3 billion, is limited from buying more than 15 per cent of Twitter's stock.
The companies say the facility will be sold to resolve the Competition Commissioner of Canada's concerns about the implication on the purchase of wood fibre from the Thompson/Okanagan region in British Columbia.
The area is under an evacuation order because of flooding in the nearby Sumas River. Police-enforced roadblocks have been set up around the area to prevent people from coming or going.
The Mounties say in a statement they responded to a crash on Highway 97C south of Logan Lake around 12:15 p.m. Thursday. They say the crash was between a large utility vehicle and a passenger vehicle carrying the child, whose age was not released.
There are 3,345 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 208,284 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 355 individuals are currently in hospital and 110 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.
The federal government has scheduled a media briefing with officials at 10 a.m. Friday to share news regarding authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children.
The RCMP wouldn't confirm Thursday if arrests had been made. A spokesperson for protesters who set up a blockade along the road said in a video posted online that officers had read out the injunction order and then began arresting people.
