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Elon Musk bids $43bn to take Twitter private; AEI sells BHI to Westinghouse Electric

Good morning, Hubsters. MK Flynn here with today’s Wire.

 

Big news in the Twitterverse. Elon Musk wants to take Twitter private to the tune of $43 billion.

 

“Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company,” wrote Musk in a Thursday filing with the SEC. The bid comes after the founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX became the social media company’s largest shareholder with a 9.2 percent stake on March 14. It also comes after Musk agreed to join Twitter’s board, posted several (now deleted) tweets criticizing the company and then decided not to join the board after all.

 

“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk wrote in a letter to the board attached to the filing. He said Twitter will “neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form.”

 

Twitter’s board responded with a statement earlier this morning saying it “will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the company and all Twitter stockholders.”

 

Stay tuned.

 

Energy exit. AE Industrial Partners announced this morning the sale of its portfolio company BHI Energy to Westinghouse Electric for undisclosed terms.

 

Event recap. Flex space operator Convene, has completed its recapitalization plan, led by HBC and Ares Management.

 

IR event. Speaking of Convene, the company’s midtown Manhattan venue is where PEI Media, the owner of PE Hub, will host our Investor Relations, Marketing & Communications Forum next week.

 

On the 19th, I’ll be moderating a panel about how the past two years have redefined the IR role. Panelists will include: Shavonne Correia, head of investor relations and marketing, KPS Capital Partners; Jennifer James, managing director, chief operating officer and head of investor relations and marketing, Thoma Bravo; Gina Lee Peyton, partner, capital formation, Castlelake; and Nathan Urquhart, partner and global head of investor relations, Carlyle.

 

Hope to see you there!

 

That’s all for today. I’m off tomorrow, so Chris will write tomorrow’s Wire.

 

Wishing everyone a Happy Passover and a Happy Easter,

MK

 

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

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