Twitter board wants $44 bn deal to go through amid Musk-Agrawal tussle
Darpan News Desk IANS, 18 May, 2022 11:01 AM
San Francisco, May 18 (IANS) Despite the ongoing tussle between Elon Musk and Parag Agrawal, the Twitter board is keen to see the $44 billion takeover deal go through as it is in the "best interest of all shareholders", the media reported on Wednesday.
"We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement," the board said Tuesday in a statement to Bloomberg.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co may earn a combined $133 million in fees for advising Twitter on the acquisition, but only if the deal goes through.
The Tesla CEO on Tuesday said that the $44 billion deal at $54.20 a share "cannot move forward" until the Twitter CEO Agrawal proves the actual bot numbers.
While Twitter maintains it has less than 5 per cent fake/spammy accounts on its platform, Musk believes the number can be as high at 50 per cent, and wants Agrawal to come clean on this.
In a tech conference in Miami on Monday, a frustrated Musk even said that a viable deal at a lower price wouldn't be "out of the question" as Twitter may be hiding the actual number of users from its advertisers.
Musk said that Twitter could have at least four times more fake accounts than what has been revealed in its US SEC filing, asking the commission to probe the micro-blogging platform's claim.
Meanwhile, Musk will have to pay Twitter $1 billion in termination fee if he drops the $44 billion takeover deal, according to an SEC filing.
The filing said that the micro-blogging platform will also have to pay the same amount if it terminates Musk's takeover deal.
"Upon termination of the Merger Agreement under specified limited circumstances, Twitter will be required to pay Parent a termination fee of $1 billion," according to the SEC filing.
"Musk will be required to pay Twitter a termination fee of $1 billion," if he cancels the deal.
As part of the deal, Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions have committed to providing $13 billion in financing, along with $12.5 billion in margin loans to Musk, against his shares in Tesla and other companies.
Musk will provide financing of approximately $21 billion on his own.
The world's first fully-operational airport for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and drone technology, the 'Air-One' in the city of Coventry is currently hosting demonstrator flights.
Twitter announced late on Monday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Musk for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at nearly $44 billion.
The University of British Columbia says in a news release that its spinoff company Carbin Minerals has been awarded a so-called XPrize for technology that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The reception was hosted by Jay Minhas, President of Elegant Developments featuring Government officials, BC Colleges and Universities, Land Developers, and community leaders in attendance. Esther Wojcicki, is the mother of Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, Anne Wojcicki, CEO of 23andMe, and Janet Wojcicki, Professor of Pediatrics at UCSF Medical School.
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced a new $100 million Google Career Certificates Fund to prepare a skilled workforce for high-paying, high-growth jobs in fields like data analytics, IT support, project management and user experience design.
The company said that it developed the Messenger Kids Pledge and the Pledge Planets activities in close partnership with experts in online safety, child development, and children's media.
