Twitter‘s board of directors unanimously recommended that shareholders support Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of the company, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, reached a deal to buy Twitter in April.
The board “determined that the merger agreement is advisable and that the merger and the other transactions contemplated by the merger agreement are fair to, sensible, and in the best interests of Twitter and its stockholders,” according to a statement to investors included in the SEC filing.
The vote’s date was not specified in the letter, but it was suggested that it might happen in late July or early August. Though the company’s share price has fallen dramatically from the $54.20 per share that Musk first offered, he expressed his resolve to proceed with the purchase in a meeting with Twitter personnel last week when he allegedly stated his aim for 1 billion members. Twitter has chosen not to elaborate.
Given that the group had previously approved the acquisition, the board’s suggestion was not unexpected, but it represents the latest step in a protracted process that has been riddled with uncertainties and turns. Musk had previously threatened to pull out of the arrangement if Twitter couldn’t provide proof that less than 5 percent of its accounts were bots. He later claimed that Twitter “aggressively fought and blocked” his request for bot data, but the company reportedly chose to release the details.
A cheaper price isn’t “out of the question,” according to Musk, who has also stated that he would be open to renegotiating the terms of the arrangement. However, Twitter has maintained that it does not intend to renegotiate the current arrangement. In April, Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey endorsed the transaction, calling Musk the “single solution” he believes in.