AGL 40.10 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.25%)
AIRLINK 130.40 Increased By ▲ 0.87 (0.67%)
BOP 6.80 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.8%)
CNERGY 4.65 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.43%)
DCL 9.00 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.67%)
DFML 43.11 Increased By ▲ 1.42 (3.41%)
DGKC 84.01 Increased By ▲ 0.24 (0.29%)
FCCL 33.25 Increased By ▲ 0.48 (1.46%)
FFBL 76.30 Increased By ▲ 0.83 (1.1%)
FFL 11.54 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.61%)
HUBC 110.60 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.05%)
HUMNL 14.82 Increased By ▲ 0.26 (1.79%)
KEL 5.43 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.74%)
KOSM 8.33 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-0.83%)
MLCF 39.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.15%)
NBP 61.00 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (1.18%)
OGDC 198.00 Decreased By ▼ -1.66 (-0.83%)
PAEL 26.80 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (0.56%)
PIBTL 7.85 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (2.48%)
PPL 158.01 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (0.06%)
PRL 26.59 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-0.52%)
PTC 18.55 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (0.49%)
SEARL 82.39 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.06%)
TELE 8.29 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.24%)
TOMCL 34.70 Increased By ▲ 0.19 (0.55%)
TPLP 9.19 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (1.43%)
TREET 17.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-0.97%)
TRG 61.50 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (0.29%)
UNITY 27.80 Increased By ▲ 0.37 (1.35%)
WTL 1.40 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (1.45%)
BR100 10,478 Increased By 70.9 (0.68%)
BR30 31,811 Increased By 97.4 (0.31%)
KSE100 97,967 Increased By 639 (0.66%)
KSE30 30,379 Increased By 187 (0.62%)

SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk on Friday pulled the plug on his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, accusing the social media giant of “misleading” statements about the number of fake accounts, a regulatory filing showed.

Musk’s effort to terminate the deal that he inked in April sets the stage for an epic court battle over a billion-dollar breakup fee and more.

“Mr. Musk hereby exercises (the) right to terminate the Merger Agreement and abandon the transaction,” his lawyers said in a letter to Twitter, a copy of which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Musk’s change of heart appeared to suggest some “buyer’s remorse” for offering a price of $54.20 per share that now appears “laughable,” CFRA Research senior equity analyst Angelo Zino said in a note to investors before the deal was officially nixed.

Twitter has held firm that no more than five percent of accounts are run by software instead of people, while Musk has said he believes the number to be much higher.

Immediately after the news broke, Twitter board chair Bret Taylor vowed to sue Musk to hold him to the terms of the buyout deal, saying “we are confident we will prevail.”

The clock was ticking for Musk to make a decision, with Twitter’s board recommending shareholders approve the buyout at a special vote expected to be held in August.

Musk — the world’s richest man — used a chunk of his fortune in Tesla shares to back loans to buy Twitter, but the tumult and market factors have pushed down the electric car maker’s stock price.

“The Twitter deal has clearly caused chaos at Twitter and has resulted in an overhang on Tesla’s stock since April given the Musk financing angle, coupled by a brutal market backdrop for risk,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors.

“This soap opera has seen many twists and turns... this was always a head scratcher to go after Twitter at a $44 billion price tag for Musk and never made much sense to (Wall) Street, now it ends in a Twilight Zone.”

Comments

Comments are closed.