Just a couple of days ago Elon Musk confirmed that he would buy Twitter for the 44,000 million dollars that were agreed in the original agreement. Although he will eventually pay what he promised, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t sought a deal.
The billionaire agreed to the Twitter acquisition in late April, and tried to call it off less than two months later. He argued that the platform did not offer him accurate data on the real number of false accounts, bot Y spam that has the social network.
It was widely speculated that the businessman’s true intention was to destabilize the company in order to devalue the shares and negotiate a lower price. And now there are reports that could confirm the rumours.
Anonymous sources assured New York Times that the tycoon’s representatives had private conversations with Twitter about the price of the platform. According to reports, they would have asked for a 30% discountso that the CEO of Tesla will pay ‘only’ $31 billion.
However, Twitter rejected the request, four informants familiar with the negotiations said. Last week, the billionaire’s representatives made Twitter another offer, this time for a 10% reduction, instead of 30%. The platform did not accept either and Elon Musk had to return to his initial offer.
On October 4, the businessman presented a letter to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), offering to pay 44,000 million for the platform. Twitter, for its part, confirmed that it plans to close the deal at that price.
“We received the letter from the Musk parties who filed with the SEC,” a Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider. “The Company’s intention is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share.”
Lawsuit for the lawsuit: Twitter does not want to end the trial against Elon Musk
Although the 51-year-old South African has already agreed to respect his purchase agreement, the legal battle with the platform continues. The trial would begin on October 17 in a Delaware court, since there was no formal request from either party to annul the case.
One of Elon’s conditions for resuming the takeover was that the trial be immediately suspended. This Thursday, Musk’s lawyers filed the request to stop the legal process, but Twitter refuses to cancel it.
“Twitter will not take yes for an answer. Surprisingly, they have insisted on continuing this litigation, recklessly risking the deal and playing with the interests of their shareholders,” the tycoon’s team noted in the motion.
Twitter’s lawyers explained that they do so because the defendant does not want to fulfill the conditions of the contract.
“The obstacle to ending this litigation is not, as the defendants say, that Twitter is unwilling to take yes for an answer. The obstacle is that the defendants still refuse to accept their contractual obligations,” explained the company’s legal representatives in a letter to the court.
Twitter notes that “for months, [Musk] launches increasingly implausible accusations to delay the process” and get out of the agreement. “Now, on the eve of trial, the defendants declare that they intend to close the deal after all. ‘Trust us’, they say, ‘this time we are serious’, they say”, they commented with irony.
“Until Defendants commit to properly close the deal, Twitter is entitled to its day in Court,” the letter states. “The defendants can and should close the deal next week. Until they do, this action is not moot and should be brought to trial.”
Judge agrees to put the trial on hold and gives a deadline to close the transaction
Finally, the judge kathleen mccormick, who is handling the case, decided to pause the process to give the parties time to reach an agreement. However, the court document specifies that the suspension “depends on the closing of the transaction” and set a deadline.
“If the transaction does not close by 5 p.m. on October 28, 2022, the parties are instructed to contact me by email that same afternoon to obtain trial dates for November 2022,” McCormick said. in to the Order.
Another of Twitter’s concerns is that Elon Musk does not have enough resources to complete the purchase.
However, in the letter to the court, the tycoon’s representatives affirm that “the parties to the financing of the debt are working cooperatively to finance the closing.” They add that “each of their clients is prepared to meet their obligations.”
As he continues to sort out the Twitter mess, the world’s richest man already has plans for the social network. He revealed that it would be part of his project ‘x.com’a kind of platform or “app for everything”, as he said.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.