Twitter’s board of directors reportedly met with Elon Musk over the weekend to review his $43bn (£33.6bn) takeover bid for the social media platform.
After the Tesla boss initially announced his offer, Twitter management announced a so-called “poison pill” strategy to stave off a potential hostile takeover.
Mr Musk plans to fund his bid with the support of US lender Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions.
A spokesman for Twitter declined to comment on the reports.
Details of how Mr Musk intended to fund his bid, disclosed to US regulators on Thursday, prompted Twitter’s 11-member board of directors to seriously consider a possible deal, according to Reuters, the New York Times and Bloomberg – citing anonymous sources to think.
Musk, who owns more than a 9% stake in Twitter, has secured a $46.5 billion funding package for his bid, according to a regulatory filing.
Funding comes from a mix of his own wealth and backing from Wall Street banking giant Morgan Stanley and others.
Several Twitter shareholders reportedly contacted the company after Mr Musk announced the funding plan, urging it not to miss the opportunity for a potential deal.
- Twitter board is taking action to fight Musk’s offer
- Elon Musk is unsure if his Twitter bid will be successful
Dan Ives, an analyst at investment firm Wedbush Securities, said many investors will see the discussions “as the beginning of the end for Twitter as a public company, with Musk now likely on course to acquire the company barring a second bidder to mix it up.” “.
A hostile takeover attempt by Mr Musk, the world’s richest person, would “put further pressure on the board, which has its back against the wall, in this Game of Thrones battle for Twitter,” added Mr Ives.
Earlier this month, Mr Musk turned down a seat on Twitter’s board of directors, which would have capped the shares he could own. He then made an unsolicited offer to the company on April 14.
The next day, Twitter’s board of directors announced a plan to protect against a possible hostile takeover by enacting what it called a “limited-duration shareholder rights plan,” also known as a “poison pill.”
The move discourages anyone from owning more than a 15% stake in the company. It does this by allowing others to purchase additional shares of the company at a discount.
A takeover bid is considered hostile when a person or company attempts to take over another company against the will of the management of the target company.
Add Comment