Twitter agrees to sell to Elon Musk for $44 billion in cash ($54.20 per share), which is what the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said is his “best and final offer.” After negotiations kicked off on Sunday with pressure from wooed shareholders, Twitter announced the sale Monday after its board met and discussed the deal with Twitter shareholders.

According to the press release, Twitter has entered into a “definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Elon Musk, for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $44 billion. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company.”

Under the terms of the agreement “Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing of the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter.”

Elon Musk had secured “$25.5 billion of fully committed debt and margin loan financing. He also is providing approximately $21 billion equity commitment with “no financing conditions to the l;osing of the transaction.” The deal to acquire Twitter was approved by the Twitter board of directors, and is expected to close in 2022 with the approval of Twitter stockholders, regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other closing conditions.

“The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”

Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board Chair

Twitter (current) CEO, Parag Agrawai, said in a statement “Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.”

So, what happens next? “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” said Elon Musk. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.” Twitter plans to release its first quarter fiscal year 2022 results “before market open on April 28, 2022.” Twitter will not hold a corresponding conference call, in light of the pending transaction announced today, according to the release.

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