Elon Musk Twitter latest: Crunch talks begin in recovery bid from poison pill | City & Business | Finance

On Sunday it is understood Twitter decided to begin engaging with Mr Musk, though it has not yet signalled if it will accept Mr Musk’s offer of $54.20 (£42.55) per share. According to one anonymous source cited by Reuters the move does however indicate Twitter is now exploring whether a sale to the Tesla CEO might be possible on attractive terms. Twitter declined to comment further when approached by Express.co.uk. Mr Musk has already unveiled $46.5 billion (£36.49bn) worth of funding for a deal, including his own money and debt financing from firms including investment bank Morgan Stanley.

Since the plan was published last week Twitter shareholders have reportedly reached out to the company urging it to consider the opportunity for a deal.

Meanwhile Mr Musk took to Twitter to ask followers in a poll if they believed the decision to take Twitter private should be left to shareholders rather than the company’s board.

The result gave 83.5 percent in favour.

Twitter so far has appeared cautious though, adopting a so called poison pill strategy in response to Mr Musk’s already growing holding in the company.

As well as the value of the bid, Twitter is also understood to be considering whether any regulators would object to Mr Musk owning the company and the status of any active investigations against him which could pose a risk to the deal.

Mr Musk has been accused by one investor of breaching Securities and Exchange Commission rules due to the timing of his public disclosure of his share purchases in Twitter so far.

According to the claim Mr Musk’s delay in disclosure allowed him to continue buying stock at a lower price, disadvantaging investors who had sold at this time.

According to one source Twitter could try to seek a higher fee if a sale to Mr Musk can be deemed risky.

It is also not yet known if Twitter might explore a sale to put pressure on Mr Musk to raise his bid, though currently no other potential buyers have been identified.

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Victoria Scholar, Head of Investment at interactive investor, said: “Despite the hopes of most Twitter employees, there does not appear to be any other notable rival bids so far which could be more aligned with the company’s own vision for Twitter and its focus on content moderation rather than absolute free speech.

“With Twitter now conceding to talks, for the first time it looks like a Musk acquisition of Twitter is a serious possibility as the Tesla chief’s threat to sell his 9.2 percent stake subsides.

“If chances of an acquisition remain high, shares in Twitter should remain well supported.”

Shares in Twitter closed last week at just under $49 dollars (£38.42), below Mr Musk’s offer.

However some major shareholders have pushed for a higher offer with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal tweeting: “I don’t believe that the proposed offer by Elon Musk comes close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects.”