Elon Musk, during his participation, this Thursday, in a TED conference in the Canadian city of Vancouver.RYAN LASH (AFP)
Twitter has responded this Friday to the purchase offer that Elon Musk launched by surprise.
The board of directors of the social network has announced that it will launch a corporate maneuver that makes it difficult for the tycoon to gain control of the technology company.
The strategy, known in the economic world as the
poison pill
, will be in force until April 14, 2023, so it allows the current management of the company to buy time, which has lived ten days of heart attack since it was revealed that Musk had acquired 9.2% of the company in early April.
The richest man in the world surprised Thursday by putting 43.4 billion dollars (about 40 billion euros) on the table to keep one of the jewels of Silicon Valley.
More information
Why Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter
This operation, the
poison pill
, is an emergency resource that has been put in place by many boards of directors of American companies since the 1980s. It is a legal measure designed to protect the interests and rights of shareholders against hostile takeover bids. and of the so-called “corporate invaders”, that is, of those partners who enter the boards of directors with the aim of conquering them from within.
The measure is aimed at an investor or group of investors trying to acquire at least 15% of the company's shares.
At that time, the company can activate that clause, which involves the sale of more shares of the company at a more competitive price (that is, somewhat below market value) by other shareholders, but not by those who launched the offer. hostile.
At the end of the operation, this makes the acquisition less attractive, since that 15% of capital has been diluted and the titles are usually worth less.
And that practically leads to a negotiation of the shareholder with the leadership of the company.
Musk's arrival at the company put many board members on guard.
He was offered a seat on the council, which Musk accepted.
Days later, he rejected it.
The company has reported that the plan does not prevent it from entering into negotiations with potential buyers of the company or from accepting an offer that the shareholders consider acceptable.
In fact, on Thursday afternoon the first reactions to Musk's offer were arriving, which showed that there was no unanimity regarding the acquisition.
However, Musk said earlier that day that he was not going to beat the amount he offered of $54.20 per share, sensing the possibility of a refusal.
That was his final offer.
And for now, he has not responded to the Twitter challenge.
Musk, whose personal fortune exceeds 260,000 million dollars (240,000 million euros), stressed on Thursday afternoon that he had "sufficient funds" to close the operation.
The businessman attended a TED conference in Vancouver, Canada, where he discussed his personal life and his business vision.
He also talked about his plans to buy Twitter, which he intends to take off the stock market and turn it into a private company, keeping as many shareholders as possible.
Before Chris Anderson, the curator of the popular conferences of the technological and scientific world, Musk also said that he has a Plan B to take over Twitter, although he did not delve into the details.
The tycoon had already foreseen the possibility of a refusal.
In one of his messages, he said: "If the current board takes actions contrary to the interests of the shareholders, they would be in breach of their fiduciary obligations."
On Thursday afternoon (night in mainland Spain) he went to Twitter to speak with one of the company's main shareholders.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, who owns 5% of the tech company through his Kingdom Holding conglomerate, said hours earlier that the offer was "nowhere near intrinsic value given growth projections."
Musk asked him what he thinks about the freedom of expression of journalists.