(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk made his presence felt at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters Wednesday, posting a video clip of himself walking into the offices carrying a kitchen sink and changing his public profile descriptor to “Chief Twit.” He’s due to address staff Friday, the closing deadline for his planned $44 billion deal to take the company private.
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The company is expected to come under Musk’s ownership by 5 p.m. New York time on Oct. 28, as lawyers and bankers on both sides race to finalize paperwork. Leslie Berland, Twitter’s chief marketing officer and head of people, sent a memo to employees Wednesday saying that Musk was visiting the company’s headquarters this week, according to people who received the note.
“Elon is in the SF office this week meeting with folks, walking the halls, and continuing to dive in on the important work you all do,” Berland wrote in the memo. “For everyone else, this is just the beginning of many meetings and conversations with Elon, and you’ll all hear directly from him on Friday.”
Twitter shares gained on these, the latest signs that billionaire Musk plans to make good on his agreement to pay $54.20 a share for the company. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Musk has told bankers he expected the deal to close by the deadline. Banks were expecting a borrowing notice from Musk for $13 billion in debt financing, with the intention of the funds going into escrow Thursday.
The stock climbed to $53.47 in afternoon trading in New York.
The Wall Street lenders, led by Morgan Stanley, had already been preparing in recent weeks to fund the debt, Bloomberg previously reported. But nothing had ever been certain with the mercurial Musk, who only weeks ago was seeking to back out of the deal. These latest developments suggest he is in the final stages of closing the transaction.
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Source: finance.yahoo.com