Elon Musk looking to bring in partners for Twitter bid, says report

Elon Musk is talking to investors to potentially partner with him on his $43bn attempt to buy Twitter, according to a report.

The Tesla titan launched his stunning bid for the social media platform with a $54.20 per chase cash offer as he claimed he was the right leader to “unlock” its “extraordinary potential”.

Now the South African-born entrepreneur is developing a new plan that could be announced in days, according to The New York Post.

Mr Musk could team-up with Silver Lake Partners, a global private equity firm that invests in tech and which was a potential investor when he considered taking Tesla private in 2018, a source told the newspaper.

Silver Lake’s Co-CEO Egon Durban is already a Twitter board member.

Twitter’s board responded to Mr Musk’s offer on Friday by putting in place a one-year “Rights Plan” after it received “an unsolicited, non-binding proposal to acquire Twitter.”

The measure would give shareholders the opportunity to buy Twitter stock at a discounted price if Mr Musk increases his holdings to more than 15 per cent of the company, in a plan deliberately designed to water down his stake.

“The Rights Plan is intended to enable all shareholders to realize the full value of their investment in Twitter,” the board said in a statement,

“The Rights Plan will reduce the likelihood that any entity, person or group gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium or without providing the Board sufficient time to make informed judgments and take actions that are in the best interests of shareholders.”

The board says that the Rights Plan will stay in place until 14 April, 2023.

Mr Musk made his offer for Twitter in a letter to board chairman Bret Taylor.

“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,” he wrote.

The Independent has reached out to Silver Lake for comment.