Twitter starts discussions over Musk’s $43 billion takeover offer

Twitter has begun negotiating a potential deal with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk over his $43 billion acquisition offer, several outlets reported on Sunday.

The social media company’s 11-person board met Sunday to discuss his bid, including a timeline and potential penalties against Musk should a contract be signed and the deal falls through, according to the New York Times.

Twitter’s willingness to further consider Musk’s unsolicited $54.20-per-share offer come after he detailed plans for financing, a previous weakness in his proposal, Reuters reports.

Musk also reportedly met with several shareholders on Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Times reported that the board planned to meet with representatives of musk on Sunday as well.

Twitter is expected to offer some insight into its thinking about the bid when it reports earnings later this week, the Journal noted.

Musk made the offer to purchase the company in its entirety on April 14.

“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,” Musk, already the largest shareholder of Twitter, wrote in the letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor.

In a securities filing last week, Musk explained that his financing including included $13 billion in debt financing from Morgan Stanley and other lenders and another $12.5 billion in loans against his Tesla stock, requiring another $21 billion in equity financing.

If Twitter accepts Musk’s offer, the billionaire signaled plans to turn Twitter into a private company, and has already made recommendations to expand its subscription service and add an edit feature.

The social media company “has extraordinary potential,” he said, adding, “I will unlock it.”