Business tycoon Ilon Musk has notified his co-investors of the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter by Friday. A source familiar with the matter said that equity investors such as Sequoia Capital and Qatar Investment Authority have received financial commitment documents from Musk’s lawyers.
The move is the clearest sign that the Tesla leader plans to meet the deadline set by a Delaware court judge to complete the deal by that date. The banks that pledged to finance Musk’s buyout of the social media platform are in the process of signing the necessary documents and have finalized the matching of the final debt financing and loan agreements. What’s more, Musk also promised to close the deal with the bankers helping finance it during a video conference Monday. Twitter shares jumped and traded up 3 percent to $52.95, which was closer to the offer price of $54.20. Musk said he provided $46.5 billion in equity and $44 billion in debt financing for the acquisition, including closing costs.
Financial institutions such as Bank of America Corp and Morgan Stanley have pledged to back the deal with $13 billion in debt financing. The banks are expected to receive one of the last formalities, a notice of loan, on Tuesday, and the cash is expected to be held under a legal agreement on Thursday, the source said .
Equity investors such as Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Oracle Corp co-founder Larry Ellison will contribute $7.1 billion, ending months of speculation that Musk is abandoning the takeover.