(NewsGlobal.com)- Elon Musk is not going to walk away from his plans to take over Twitter, coming up with his own ideas for how he can force the full sale of the company to happen.
The New York Post reported recently that Musk — the founder and CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla — could form a partnership in a few days that would then seek to force the sale of Twitter to them.
Last week, Musk formally put forth an offer to buy Twitter out completely. The value of the “best and final offer” Musk gave, according to SEC filings, was more than $40 billion.
The Post reported that one possibility for such a partnership could be Silver Lake Partners. Musk has worked with that company a few times in the past. The company is a private equity firm that at one point back in 2018 considered partnering with Musk when he was considering whether he should take Tesla private.
Egon Durban, the co-CEO of Silver Lake Partners, sits on the board of Twitter, and was the leader of the effort to take Tesla private. That deal ultimately didn’t go through.
After news of Musk’s planned takeover attempt went public last week, Twitter responded by initiating a defense mechanism known as the “poison pill.” It’s a move that public corporations try that would prevent Musk from acquiring a share of the company that exceeds 15%.
While it may stop Musk from gaining that big of a share of Twitter on his own, it certainly does nothing to prevent him from partnering with others to have that partnership gain ownership of the company.
As The Post reported:
“Those owners could partner with Musk to force a sale, make changes in the executive ranks or push for other overhauls of the company.”
And as one source told The Post:
“This is not over.”
Last week, Chris Anderson hosted a TED talk with Musk, where he asked if the Tesla CEO had a “Plan B” in place if his initial offer to purchase Twitter was ultimately rejected. His quick response:
“There is.”
And maybe this partnership is exactly what Musk was referring to when he said that.
Musk hired Morgan Stanley on an advisory basis to aid him with his planned takeover of Twitter. He had originally agreed to join Twitter’s board when he made a big investment in the company. But, he quickly changed his mind, which opened up the possibility of him forcing a takeover.
The agreement that Musk signed with Twitter read:
“Mr. Musk agrees that, for so long as Mr. Musk is serving on the Board and for 90 days thereafter, Mr. Musk will not, either alone or as a member of a group, become the beneficial owner of more than 14.9% of Company’s common stock outstanding at such time, including for these purposes economic exposure through derivative securities, swaps or hedging transactions.”
By deciding not to join the social media giant’s board, though, Musk ensured he wouldn’t be bound to those terms.
And so, the drama rages on.
