Elon Musk strikes deal to buy Twitter for $44bn

New Delhi: Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk agreed to buy Twitter Inc for $44 billion cash, using one of the biggest leveraged buyout deals in history to take private a 16-year-old social networking platform that has become a hub of public discourse and a flashpoint in the debate over online free speech.

Investors will receive $54.2 for each Twitter share they own, the company said in a statement on Monday. The price is 38% more than the stock's close on April 1, the last business day before Musk disclosed a significant stake in the company, sparking a share rally.

Twitter shares were halted for the news. "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Musk said in the statement.

"Twitter has tremendous potential — I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it." "Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world," its CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted.

"Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important."

The all-cash deal is expected to be completed later this year. Musk secured $25.5 billion of debt and margin loan financing and will provide about $21 billion in equity to fund the deal, according to the statement.

Going private marks a dramatic turnabout for a company that got its start as a messaging service for sharing your status updates with friends, but quickly blossomed into a way for people to broadcast short posts of 140 characters or less to a public following.