ISS Advises Twitter Shareholders to Approve Sale to Elon Musk: Report

Twitter investors were advised by a proxy advisory firm to back Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s bid to acquire the microblogging service next month, as per a report. Musk, who agreed to purchase Twitter for $44 billion (nearly Rs. 3,51,300) back in April, attempted to walk away from the deal in July, claiming that he was provided with misleading information related to the number of fake accounts on the platform. Twitter and Musk are set to face off in a US court in October. 

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a proxy advisory firm, has advised Twitter shareholders to vote to approve Musk’s plan to purchase the company, according to a report by Reuters. The firm’s recommedation comes two weeks before shareholders will vote on the takeover deal. 

The ISS reportedly stated that a vote for the proposal was warranted, as the deal would provide the microblogging service with liquidity, while shareholders would gain value from the all-cash transaction. According to the report, ISS also noted that there was very little resistance to the takeover deal from shareholders, who are expected to vote on the deal on September 13. 

Musk agreed to purchase Twitter for $54.20 (roughly Rs. 4,300) per share back in April, but later informed Twitter that he did not intend to go through with the deal, prompting Twitter to move a US court to direct him to go through with the deal as per the agreement. 

Meanwhile Musk recently subpoenaed whistleblower Peiter Zatko, who recently raised shocking allegations on Twitter. The Tesla CEO is expected to ask Zatko, who formerly worked as Twitter’s security chief, details of how the microblogging site measures spam accounts.