Elon Musk has won his $44bn (£35bn) takeover battle for Twitter after the social network dropped its opposition to the Tesla billionaire’s bid.
Mr Musk, the world’s richest person, promised to “make Twitter better than ever” and protect Twitter as the “digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated”.
Twitter’s board confirmed that Mr Musk’s $54.20-a-share bid had been unanimously accepted, 11 days after it was first announced. It comes little more than a week after Twitter had revealed a “poison pill” defence designed to prevent Mr Musk, 50, buying the social network.
The deal will take publicly-held Twitter private and make Mr Musk, who owns 9.1pc of the company, its 100pc owner. Twitter said the deal was expected to close this year, but would need the approval of shareholders and regulators.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Mr Musk said.
“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
Bret Taylor, Twitter’s chairman, said the deal was the best available for the company’s shareholders, despite valuing it well below its share price for much of last year.
“The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing,” he said. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”
In the wake of the acquisition, Twitter imposed a temporary ban on employees making any changes to its platform, Bloomberg reported. Product changes will require approval from a vice president to avoid staff who may be unhappy about the deal from “going rogue”.
Parag Agrawal, who took over as Twitter’s chief executive from founder Jack Dorsey last year, now faces uncertainty about his position. Mr Musk has said he does not have confidence in the company’s management, although the announcement did not say what would happen to its executives.
“Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important,” Mr Agrawal said.
Shares in Twitter rose by 5.5pc earlier on Monday on reports that the company’s directors were hammering out the final touches on agreeing to Mr Musk’s offer.
