Elon Musk says the $44 billion deal to buy Twitter is on hold. Twitter disagrees.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Twitter will hold Elon Musk to his offer to buy the company at the $44 billion price agreed last month, it said in two statements on Tuesday.
The company “is committed to completing the transaction on the agreed price and terms as promptly as practicable,” it said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
“We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement,” Twitter’s board said in a separate statement to Bloomberg.
Twitter referred to its press release and SEC statement when contacted by email on Wednesday. It didn’t make any further comment.
The company is responding to Musk’s pronouncement yesterday that the deal cannot go ahead until Twitter (ticker: TWTR) provides proof of how many of the accounts used in daily activity are spam or bots. Musk was also cited by Bloomberg as saying that he is open to considering the deal at a lower price.
Tensions between Musk and the company have escalated this week. Musk on Monday said that the deal was on hold until Twitter gave more information about fake accounts. CEO Parag Agrawal published a detailed thread on how Twitter’s estimates of bot accounts are calculated. Musk responded with a poop emoji.
Musk agreed to buy Twitter on April 25 at $54.20-a-share. Since then, technology stocks have dropped as the Federal Reserve signaled a series of interest-rate hikes. After jumping following Musk’s interest in the company, Twitter shares are also trading down year to date at $38.32, some 30% below the offer price.
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