Elon Musk is willing to invest between $10 billion and $15 billion of his own money to take Twitter Inc private, the New York Post reported Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
The billionaire, Twitter’s second-largest shareholder with a 9.1% stake, plans to make an offer in about 10 days and has tapped Morgan Stanley to raise another $10 billion in debt, the report said.
Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla Inc, may also be willing to borrow against his current stake if necessary, a move that could potentially yield several billion additional dollars, the New York Post reported.
Twitter declined to comment. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment from Musk.
The social media company last week took a “poison pill” to protect itself from Musk’s $43 billion buyout offer.
More private equity firms have expressed interest in joining a deal for Twitter, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday without naming the company.
The interest arose after Thoma Bravo, a tech-focused PE firm, reached out to the social media platform last week to investigate a buyout that would challenge Musk’s offering.
Apollo Global Management Inc is considering ways to fund any deal and is open to partnering with Musk or any other bidder, the sources told Reuters.
Many investors, analysts and investment bankers expect the Twitter board to reject Musk’s offer in the coming days, saying it is insufficient.
Twitter shares fell 1.6% to $47.69 in afternoon trading, well below Musk’s bid of $54.20.
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