From Reuters.com…
Elon Musk on Thursday said he has lined up $46.5 billion in debt and equity financing to buy Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) and is considering taking his offer directly to shareholders, a filing with U.S. regulators showed.
Musk himself has committed to put up $33.5 billion, which will include $21 billion of equity and $12.5 billion of margin loans against some of his Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) shares to finance the transaction. He is chief executive officer of electric vehicle maker Tesla.
Musk, the world’s richest person according to a tally by Forbes, on April 14 presented a “best and final” cash offer of $43 billion to Twitter’s board of directors, saying the social media company needs to be taken private to grow and become a platform for free speech.
But Twitter failed to respond to his offer and adopted a “poison pill” to thwart him.
Musk, Twitter’s second-largest shareholder with a 9.1% stake, has said that he could make big changes at the micro-blogging company, where he has a following of more than 80 million users.
Shares of Twitter were down less than 1% on news of the funding, indicating that the market is still skeptical about the deal.
Shares of Tesla climbed nearly 7% and the value of Musk’s 172.6 million Tesla shares rose by over $10 billion on Thursday following a strong quarterly report. On Wednesday, he qualified for compensation in the form of stock options now worth about $25 billion after Tesla hit profit and revenue performance targets.
