Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk confirmed his intention to purchase Twitter, according to a new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on Monday.
“[W]e write to notify you that the Musk Parties intend to proceed to closing of the transaction contemplated by the April 25, 2022 Merger Agreement,” Musk’s lawyers stated in a letter filed with the SEC.
“The Musk Parties provide this notice without admission of liability and without waiver of or prejudice to any of their rights, including their right to assert the defenses and counterclaims pending in the Action, including in the event the Action is not stayed, Twitter fails or refuses to comply with its obligations under the April 25, 2022 Merger Agreement or if the transaction contemplated thereby otherwise fails to close.”
After the news, Twitter shares jumped 22 percent to $52 per share.
Musk had also sent a message to Twitter management on Monday that he would move ahead with his original proposal to buy the tech firm for $54.20 per share, or $44 billion.
The news, first reported by Bloomberg, resulted in Twitter shares being halted on the New York Stock Exchange. This comes as Musk and Twitter have been engaged in a months long legal battle. Both sides were scheduled to appear before a Delaware Chancery Court on Oct. 17 as part of a five-day trial.
Musk’s chief argument has been that Twitter misrepresented the true number of fake accounts and spam bots, which would render the website useless for advertisers. He contended that the prevalence of bots was much higher than Twitter’s disclosed 5 percent figure. Twitter immediately took Musk to court over his attempt to back out of the agreement.
Legal experts purported that this was a futile endeavor since it would be difficult to argue that anything changed from when Musk proposed the acquisition to the time he tried terminating the agreement.
“Writing was on the wall he could not win in Delaware and this saves both sides a long and ugly court battle ahead. Musk will now own the Twitter platform as an end to this saga and soap opera that began in April,” noted Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a tweet, who was following the news.
Last month, Twitter announced that its shareholders approved the merger agreement.
Different Takes From the Twitterverse
Many prominent conservative personalities celebrated the news on Twitter.
“Buckle up, snowflakes,” wrote former White House official Sebastian Gorka in a tweet.
“I can see why Elon Musk would turn his back on the lying leftists at Twitter. But for the sake of free speech, I hope this deal still happens,” stated Brent Bozell, the founder and president of the Media Research Center.
“The first thing Elon Musk should do once he takes over Twitter is bring back Trump!” wrote Brigitte Gabriel, the founder of ACT for America.
Critics were quick to point out that Musk might be proceeding with the deal following a Twitter controversy on Monday. Musk proposed a four-step peace initiative between Russia and Ukraine, which sparked outcry from the Ukrainian government.
From The Epoch Times
