Twitter has launched a poison pill takeover defence to fend off a $43bn hostile bid from billionaire Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.
In a statement on Friday, the social media company said that its board of directors had unanimously adopted a limited duration shareholder rights plan to “enable all shareholders to realise the full value of their investment in Twitter”, which will last for a year.
Under the plan, if a group or individual acquires more than 15 per cent of Twitter’s shares “in a transaction not approved by the board”, then other shareholders will be able to buy additional shares at a discount.
Such a plan makes it more difficult for a hostile bidder, as they would have to buy more shares to gain control.
Musk offered $54.20 a share in cash for Twitter, valuing the company at $43.4bn, days after he took a 9 per cent stake in the company to become one of its largest shareholders.
