Hostile takeover of Twitter? Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter for $43 billion 🤨
Thursday, 14th April 2022 by Gotrade
Hey Gotraders,
Don’t forget that the U.S. market is closed tomorrow due to Good Friday.
Moving on to headline news, the Twitter (TWTR) drama continues.
Let’s recap what has happened with Elon Musk & Twitter so far, shall we?
5th April - Musk discloses stake in Twitter, sending shares soaring 27%
6th April - Twitter’s CEO announces that Musk will join Twitter’s Board of Directors
11th April - Twitter’s CEO tweets that Musk decided not to join Twitter’s Board
14th April - Musk proposes to buy Twitter for $43 billion
So much drama took place within a week, don’t cha think?
So… Musk is willing to pay $54.20 per Twitter share, and he wants to buy 100% of the company in an all cash offer. This would value the deal at a whopping $43.4 billion.
Here’s what Musk had to say to Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Chairman of the Board:
“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy… However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company. As a result, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter and a 38% premium over the day before my investment was publicly announced. My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.”
The last line sounds a lil’.. uhh.. hostile? 🙈
What did Musk do next? He tweeted about his offer, obviously. He said “I made an offer” and added a link to the SEC filing.
How did Twitter respond? Twitter has confirmed receipt of Musk’s offer and said that its board will “carefully” consider the offer.
Why is this important? Shares of Twitter closed at $45.85, up 3.10% for the day. Shares are up 6.19% in extended trading at the time of writing.
📈 Blackstone wants to buyout Atlantia for $63 billion 💰
Blackstone (BX) and Benetton want to take airport and motorway operator, Atlantia private for 58 billion euros ($63 billion). Atlantia runs five airports and nearly 10,000 kilometres of motorway around the world. This deal would be the second biggest M&A deal this year, after Microsoft’s (MSFT) acquisition of Activision Blizzard (ATVI) for $69 billion.
"The gargantuan Benetton and Blackstone-led Atlantia deal redefines how investors will think about infrastructure investments due to its sheer size alone… The deal illustrates the depth of private markets and how attractive infrastructure assets have become in this inflationary environment" - Wylie Fernyhough, Senior Private Equity Analyst at PitchBook.
Shares of Blackstone closed at $116.44, up 2.65% for the day.
📉 Shares of Wells Fargo are down over 3% after reporting earnings🔻
Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) are down over 3% after reporting earnings. Let’s take a look at what they reported. They topped analysts’ estimates on earnings but missed on revenue. They reported earnings of 88 cents per share on $17.59 billion revenue vs analysts’ estimates of 80 cents a share on $17.8 billion revenue. They decreased their allowances for credit losses by $1.1 billion in the first quarter.
“While we will likely see an increase in credit losses from historical lows, we should be a net beneficiary as we will benefit from rising rates, we have a strong capital position, and our lower expense base creates greater margins from which to invest” - Charlie Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo.
Shares of Wells Fargo are down 3.38% in extended trading at the time of writing.
Top movers & shakers 🎢
What else is making headline news 📰
Oreo-maker, Nestle (NSRGY), Pepsi (PEP) face pressure from European employees over Russia.
Pfizer (PFE) /BioNTech (BNTX) say booster dose increases protection against Omicron in kids aged 5-11.
Toyota Motors (TM) aims to rev up 67-year-old Crown with SUV model, sources say.
Jamie Dimon sees ‘storm clouds’ ahead for U.S. economy later this year.
Microsoft (MSFT) and other tech firms take aim at prolific cybercrime gang.
Goldman Sachs (GS) is set to report first-quarter earnings - here’s what the Street expects.
Bitcoin could hit $100,000 within a year, crypto firm’s CEO predicts.
Rent the Runway (RENT) CEO sees inflation as a competitive advantage for the company.
Facebook parent Meta (FB) set to take nearly 50% cut from virtual sales - and Apple (AAPL) is calling it out.
Cathie Wood 'keeping open mind' on investing in General Motors (GM) as carmaker scales EV plans.
AbbVie (ABBV) stock breaks its stride as key executive departs for flagship.
Uber (UBER) cites tough regulations as it suspends Tanzania operations.
Popular companies releasing earnings this week 💰
Thursday: Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), United Health (UNH), Wells Fargo (WFC), Morgan Stanley (MS), Goldman Sachs (GS), Citibank (C), U.S. Bancorp (USB), PNC Financial (PNC), Ericsson (ERIC), State Street (STT), Ally Financial (ALLY)
A company’s market value may fluctuate considerably around the time that the earnings report is expected to be published. Stock prices may rise or fall according to analysts' speculative estimates, released prior to the actual earnings announcement.
The earnings season can be a time of great opportunity since better-than-expected figures could cause a company’s stock to greatly increase in value. Worse-than-expected results could have the opposite effect.
That’s all from us for now.
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