Twitter, which is the subject of an unsolicited takeover bid by Elon Musk, announced on Friday, April 15, measures to defend itself from this offensive, which are supposed to prevent the boss of Tesla from easily redeem their shares.
The plan must “to reduce the possibility that any entity, person or group will take control of Twitter by accumulating stock in the market without paying all shareholders an appropriate premium or without allowing sufficient time for the board of directors to take informed decisions »the group said in a press release.
This clause, dubbed “poison pill” in financial jargon, will be triggered if the hostile shareholder exceeds 15% of the company’s shares without the agreement of the board of directors (CA). Elon Musk currently owns just over 9% of Twitter’s capital.
If he buys back enough shares to reach the 15%, all other holders of shares on the platform will be able to buy back at a reduced price, which would greatly increase the price the entrepreneur would have to pay to fully take control. on the social network.
Very critical of the moderation policy
This Twitter announcement shows that the San Francisco-based company intends to fight against this attempt by the richest man in the world to buy it out and make it an unlisted company.
The billionaire has announced a proposal to acquire the social network at a price that would value it at 43.4 billion dollars, against about 36 billion at present. He said on Thursday that he had “sufficient funds” and assured that he had a plan B if the Board refused his offer, adding that he was not looking to ” make money “during a live interview at the Ted2022 conference.
Very critical of Twitter’s content moderation policy, he says he wants to do “the platform for freedom of expression in the world”with fewer limits on what users can tweet.
“I’m not sure I can buy it”
Friday, the billionaire tweeted ” Thanks for your support ! » with a survey conducted by “Bitcoin Archive”entitled “Do you want Elon Musk to buy Twitter? ». Some 73% of the 19,494 voters answered ” yes “. A follower of the format, he also asked his own question: “Make Twitter a Private Company at $54.20 [50 euros] should be the responsibility of the shareholders and not of the Board”. More than 83% of the 2.9 million votes went to ” yes “.
“I think it’s going to be quite painful and I’m not sure I can buy it”, admitted the whimsical entrepreneur on Thursday, before explaining that he hoped to rally as many existing shareholders as possible to his project. One of them has already reacted: the Saudi prince and investor Al-Walid bin Talal said on Twitter that he “rejected” an offer that is too low compared to the “intrinsic value of Twitter”.
But the influence and pressure exerted by Elon Musk does not leave much room for Twitter executives, commented analysts at Wedbush Securities, who predicted a victory for the billionaire after many twists and turns.