Jefferies analyst Brent Thill recently noted that Elon Musk’s deal to acquire Twitter for $44 billion would likely not be completed at its initially-agreed price. This, the analyst suggested, is partly because Musk knows that he is overpaying for Twitter.
“Elon is not a dumb guy. Like we say: ‘Don’t bet against Musk.’ This guy knows that he’s overpaying. He knows that the world has changed in the last month and that things are getting softer,” Thill said, also noting that the deal price, if it does go through, “is going lower.”
While Musk has announced that his buyout of the social media platform would be paused until he could get clearer data on the company’s bot users, Twitter executives have maintained that the deal should push through under the initially set terms.
During Twitter’s annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, CEO Parag Agrawal noted that Twitter is working through the acquisition process. “We are working through the transaction process. Even as we work toward closing this transaction, our teams and I remain focused on the important work we do every day,” he said.
Thill is not alone in his expectations about Elon Musk and his attempts to acquire Twitter. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives noted that Musk is likely looking for a means to lower his buyout price for the social media company.
“Our view is the massive pressure on Tesla’s stock since the deal, a changing stock market/risk environment the last month, and a number of other financing factors (equity financing) has caused Musk to get ‘cold feet’ on the Twitter deal with the bot issue, not a new issue and likely more of a scapegoat to push for a lower price,” Ives wrote in a note.
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