On Monday, the Board of Directors of Twitter announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by billionaire businessman, Elon Musk, in the interest of the micro blogging platforms’ shareholders.

For $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $44 billion, upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company.

Under the terms of agreement, stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing of the proposed transaction.

The purchase price represents a 38 per cent premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, which was the last trading day before Mr Musk disclosed his approximately 9 per cent stake in the company.

Bret Taylor, Twitter’s Independent Board Chair, said, “The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing.

“The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.”

Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s CEO, said, “Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.”

In a statement announcing the deal, Mr Musk said, “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.

“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.

“Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the board, is expected to close in 2022, subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders, the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Mr Musk has secured $25.5 billion of fully committed debt and margin loan financing and is providing an approximately $21.0 billion equity commitment. There are no financing conditions to the closing of the transaction.