POTUS speaks at 2:45 PST
RSBN
link?
https://www.ft.com/content/0de89960-7cea-4fe2-bed2-54f221d5ba6d?shareType=nongift
==Twitter launches poison pill to thwart $43bn bid by Elon Musk
Defence comes a day after Tesla entrepreneur offered $54.20 a share in cash to buy social media platform==
>Twitter launches poison pill to thwart $43bn bid by Elon Musk
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https://www.ft.com/content/0de89960-7cea-4fe2-bed2-54f221d5ba6d?shareType=nongift
Twitter has launched a poison pill takeover defence to fend off a $43bn hostile bid from billionaire Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.
In the first sign that the social media company plans to fight Musk’s bid, Twitter said on Friday that its board of directors had unanimously adopted a year-long shareholder rights plan to “enable all shareholders to realise the full value of their investment in Twitter”.
The board’s aggressive move, designed to block Musk from building a greater than 15 per cent stake in the open market, is likely to end the South African-born entrepreneur’s hopes of buying the social media company.
It comes as US private equity group Thoma Bravo has also expressed interest in taking Twitter private in what would be a rival bid to Musk’s, although sources said it was at a very preliminary stage and no offer has been made.
Thoma Bravo and Twitter both declined to comment.
Musk said this week that his offer was “best and final” adding that “if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder”. A person close to Musk said that he was not going to budge on that position.
Under Twitter’s plan, existing shareholders will be able to buy shares at a discount if anyone acquires more than 15 per cent without board approval, diluting an unwelcome bidder.
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.
Twitter’s board is concerned that if Musk built a stake worth more than 15 per cent he could indirectly wield significant power over the direction of the company even without an executive or directorship role.
The only way for him to take over Twitter now is through a mutually agreed deal, which would need to carry a significantly higher price, said a person close to the company’s board.
Poison pills were developed as a defence strategy in the 1980s to protect companies from corporate raiders, and were widely criticised as a way for a company’s managers to entrench themselves against attack. Subsequent legal challenges reduced some of their effectiveness, and most academic studies have shown that while poison pills slow an unwanted takeover bid, they do not usually prevent eventual agreement after a negotiation.
Twitter said the plan could reduce the likelihood that a hostile bidder “gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium”, as well as slow any bid.
“The Rights Plan does not prevent the Board from engaging with parties or accepting an acquisition proposal if the Board believes that it is in the best interests of Twitter and its shareholders,” it added. The plan expires on April 23 2023, it said.
After his shareholding was announced last week, Musk reached a preliminary agreement with the company to join its board of directors, only to reverse course on Monday without explanation.
Musk then announced his offer on Thursday in a regulatory filing in which he said he would unlock the company’s potential to be “the platform for free speech around the globe”. Included in the filing was the transcript of a message he sent to Twitter, which said: “It’s a high price and your shareholders will love it.”
The offer represents a 38 per cent premium to Twitter’s share price since April 1, three days before his stake became public, although it is still 26 per cent below its 12-month high.
It is unclear how exactly Musk would fund the deal. In an interview after the announcement, Musk said he had “sufficient assets” to do so and intended to retain as many shareholders as possible. However, he conceded: “I’m not sure that I will actually be able to acquire it.”
Additional reporting by Antoine Gara in New York
>Did you do a hard return?
no
no hard return
just copied it, but it does that often when the article has a hard break
https://twitter.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/1514956707448995843
JUST IN: Jen Psaki just ridiculed Fox News when asked, “Is Peter Doocy a stupid son of a bitch or does he just play one on TV?”She answered, “He works for a network that provides people with questions that… might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a bitch,” per
@politico
.
8:20 AM · Apr 15, 2022·
>Jen Psaki just ridiculed Fox News when asked, “Is Peter Doocy a stupid son of a bitch or does he just play one on TV?”She answered, “He works for a network that provides people with questions that… might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a bitch,” per >@politico
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/15/psaki-fox-news-feeds-doocy-questions-that-makes-him-look-like-a-stupid-son-of-a-00025547
Psaki: Fox News feeds Doocy questions that makes him look like a 'stupid son of a…'
The White House press secretary was referring to President Biden's hot-mic moment after an exchange with the reporter.
https://www.rawstory.com/jen-psaki-peter-doocy-stupid/
During Thursday's edition of Pod Save America, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about Joe Biden's January comments about Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy in which the president called him a "stupid son of a b****" for asking a question about inflation.
“He works for a network that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual, including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a b****," Psaki replied.
Psaki went on to tell the crowd a "nice Peter Doocy story," and shared how Biden later called Doocy and apologized for his comments and complimented Doocy for being gracious in the wake of Biden's apology and not returning an insult.
Psaki appearance the podcast was red meat for some of her critics. The Spectator's Stephen L. Miller pointed to what he sees as an ethical problem with her going on the show while in the midst of negotiating a role on MSNBC.
>>16082902 Debate Intensifies Over Use Of Facial Recognition Technology In British Schools
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