The news was announced on Monday following Musk’s offer to take over the social platform.
Twitter “has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Elon Musk, for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $44 billion. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company,” the company said in a news release.
“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,” Musk said in a statement. “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.”
In a statement, Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board Chair, said that the company’s board “conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”
Added CEO Parag Agrawal, “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.”
The transaction, which was unanimously approved by Twitter’s board, is expected to close in 2022.
In an SEC filing last week, Musk — who became Twitter’s largest shareholder in early April — offered to pay $54.20 per share for 100 percent ownership of Twitter, and said that he wants to take the company private.
“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,” the entrepreneur wrote in a letter to Twitter’s Chairman of the Board Bret Taylor.
The billionaire went on to note that this proposal is his “best and final offer.” Should it not be accepted, he said he would have to “reconsider my position as a shareholder.”
Although Twitter was initially expected to turn down Musk’s $43 billion offer to buy the social platform, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times all reported over the weekend that both sides were close to reaching a deal.
After Musk made his offer on Wednesday, Twitter put a so-called poison pill in place, which would prevent him from increasing his stake in the company beyond 15%, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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The company began to warm up to Musk’s offer after the billionaire — who had not previously indicated how he would pay for the deal — shared he had already lined up $46.5 billion in financing, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Musk also met with several shareholders privately on Friday, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper.
Musk’s move to buy Twitter came days after Twitter’s CEO announced that the tech executive declined an invitation to join Twitter’s board.