{"id":1687687,"date":"2022-10-13T08:24:19","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T12:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1687687"},"modified":"2022-10-13T09:00:08","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T13:00:08","slug":"twitter-elon-musk-saga-whats-next-in-the-takeover-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/twitter-elon-musk-saga-whats-next-in-the-takeover-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitter\u2013Elon Musk Saga: What\u2019s Next in the Takeover Battle?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftwitter-elon-musk-saga-whats-next-in-the-takeover-battle%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1687687&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Tesla CEO <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-elon-musk\">Elon Musk<\/a> will have until Oct. 28 to finish his $44 billion acquisition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-twitter\">Twitter<\/a> if he wants to avoid a trial, a Delaware judge recently ruled.<\/p>\n<p>Twitter shares have rallied beyond $50 on the news, as investors anticipate that the takeover is nearing completion. If so, this would offer new traders roughly an 8 percent upside since Musk proposed to purchase the social media company at $54.20 per share.<\/p>\n<p>But if Musk\u2019s purchase is nearing completion, why is the stock still trading below the deal value?<\/p>\n<p>The fact that Twitter\u2019s stock hasn\u2019t hit this level \u201cmay be one indicator that there\u2019s some doubt,\u201d says Ali Mogharabi, a senior analyst at Morningstar. \u201cI don\u2019t necessarily think there\u2019s much else for the investors to focus on than just basically having the deal closed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Mogharabi, who covers the San Francisco-based tech firm, believes \u201cthere\u2019s a higher chance that the deal will go through right now,\u201d citing the letter that Musk and his legal team submitted to the courts and to Twitter, which gives the latter \u201cleverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He thinks that if Musk changes his mind again and pursues a case, the odds of him winning would be lower.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom their end, it\u2019s tough to imagine that they will actually not cooperate and will go back to proceeding with the legal battle,\u201d Mogharabi told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>It seems that the chance of this \u201cdeal closing on Oct. 28 or shortly after is much higher than it was before,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Glick, a merger arbitrage strategist at Cowen Inc., estimates that the market is pricing in a 60 percent chance of Musk\u2019s Twitter acquisition closing by Oct. 28.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4776314\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/10\/05\/Twitter-logo-1200x800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4776314\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/10\/05\/Twitter-logo-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"Twitter logo and stock graph\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4776314\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/10\/05\/Twitter-logo-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"Twitter logo and stock graph\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Twitter logo and stock graph through a magnifier displayed in this illustration on Sept. 4, 2022. (Dado Ruvic\/Illustration\/Reuters)<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBased on my informal survey last week, arbitrage traders tend to think Twitter\u2019s price holds up well if we are going back to court,\u201d Glick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bnnbloomberg.ca\/market-sees-60-chance-musk-s-twitter-deal-makes-oct-28-deadline-cowen-says-1.1830537\">told<\/a> Bloomberg. \u201cThe average guess of where Twitter trades if the deal is not consummated came out to around $45.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Legal Battle<\/h2>\n<p>Francis Pileggi, managing partner of the Wilmington office of Lewis Brisbois, thinks the court will grant Musk an extra day or two if he intends to complete the deal. But if he requires more than that, then \u201cthe court will probably force him to go to trial\u201d in November.<\/p>\n<p>Musk filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/1418091\/000110465922105787\/tm2227435d1_ex99-s.htm\">letter<\/a> to Twitter with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that affirmed he plans to close the acquisition deal according to the merger agreement he originally signed on April 25.<\/p>\n<p>He also submitted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/1418091\/000110465922105787\/tm2227435d1_sc13da.htm\">13-D form<\/a> with the SEC that reiterated what was stated in the letter:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn October 3, 2022, the Reporting Person\u2019s advisors sent a letter to Twitter (on the Reporting Person\u2019s behalf) notifying Twitter that the Reporting Person intends to proceed to closing of the transaction contemplated by the April 25, 2022, Merger Agreement, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein and pending receipt of the proceeds of the debt financing contemplated thereby, provided that the Delaware Chancery Court enter an immediate stay of the action, Twitter vs. Musk, et al. (C.A. No. 202-0613-KSJM), and adjourn the trial and all other proceedings related thereto pending such closing or further order of the court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next hurdle in the takeover plan, as stated in the document, could be the completion of financing.<\/p>\n<h2>Financing Challenges?<\/h2>\n<p>When Musk first announced his plans to take the company private, he received $13 billion in financing from several major banks, including Morgan Stanley, the Bank of America, and Barclays.\u00a0But Bloomberg recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-10-07\/morgan-stanley-led-banks-face-500-million-loss-on-twitter-debt?sref=fqqmZ8gi\">calculated<\/a> that the banks\u2019 losses could collectively total at least $500 million \u201cif the debt were to be sold now.\u201d Eighty percent of the losses would come from unsecured and high-interest bonds without fees.<\/p>\n<p>Financial institutions will usually sell this type of debt to investors and earn an underwriting fee. However, the debt market has cratered since the financing terms and conditions were established in April. Therefore, if these Wall Street titans were to sell this debt under the present market landscape, they likely would face a loss to encourage investors to buy it. A couple of major equity investors have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theinformation.com\/articles\/sequoia-capital-binance-stand-by-equity-funding-for-musks-twitter-takeover\">reportedly<\/a> reaffirmed their funding support, including Sequoia Capital ($800 million) and cryptocurrency exchange Binance ($500 million).<\/p>\n<p>Pileggi doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s likely that these banks will back out of the deal. But if Musk suddenly gets into trouble securing the funds to go through with his purchase, he has two options.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe can find some of his rich friends with the money or then he will have to go to trial,\u201d Pileggi told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>In these kinds of multibillion-dollar deals, \u201cthere\u2019s a long list of things that could go wrong,\u201d he added. \u201cIf you\u2019ve ever been involved in closing a transaction for purchase of a company, there\u2019s always 101 different issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is speculation, however, that banks involved in the Musk\u2013Twitter deal could mitigate steep losses by expanding the amount of debt secured by collateral. This would allow a larger portion of the debt to stay on their balance sheets and a smaller amount they need to sell to investors in the short term.<\/p>\n<h2>Bots and Transparency<\/h2>\n<p>Meanwhile, in a recent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/5ef14997-982e-4f03-8548-b5d67202623a\">interview<\/a> with the Financial Times, Musk purported that the objective behind his acquisition of Twitter was never about the money but about trust and transparency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not doing Twitter for the money. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m trying to buy some yacht and I can\u2019t afford it. I don\u2019t own any boats,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s important that people have a maximally trusted and inclusive means of exchanging ideas and that it should be as trusted and transparent as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A treasure trove of text messages between Musk and multiple industry colleagues, media personalities, and celebrities was released in a court filing. In one exchange, Musk and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey discussed the idea of having the website\u2019s algorithm rely on open-source coding. According to Jeff Bermant, the founder of web browser TUSK, this would provide \u201csome protections\u201d and \u201chidden things\u201d that might usher in Musk\u2019s vision of the Twitterverse.<\/p>\n<p>In a text message from Mathias D\u00f6pfner, CEO of Axel Springer, he suggested creating a \u201cmarketplace for algorithms,\u201d so \u201cif you\u2019re a snowflake and don\u2019t want content that offends you, pick another algorithm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the issue of bots, which has been a source of contention for Musk as he has alleged the presence of fake accounts was higher than the company\u2019s claim of 5 percent, has garnered the attention of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope Musk cleans up Twitter,\u201d Dimon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/10\/11\/jamie-dimon-says-musk-should-clean-up-twitter-echoes-bot-concerns.html\">told<\/a> CNBC in an interview aired on Oct. 11. \u201cWhy can\u2019t Twitter know who you are when you come on board, so they can eliminate all those people in the public square who are robots and emails and stuff like that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Musk\u2019s claims about spam bots being undercounted might not be 100 percent correct, Mogharabi says it\u2019s important to the overall macroeconomic environment on how Twitter handles the bots and their impact on advertising spending.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-andrew-moran\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/12\/08\/WEB_AndrewMoran.jpeg\" alt=\"Andrew Moran\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Andrew Moran has been writing about business, economics, and finance for more than a decade. He is the author of &#8220;The War on Cash.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tesla CEO Elon Musk will have until Oct. 28 to finish his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter if he wants to avoid a trial, a Delaware judge recently ruled.Twitter shares<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1687687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1687687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1687687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1687687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1687687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1687687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1687687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}