Twitter Drifts Away From Musk’s Offer as Financing Concerns Loom

Subrat Patnaik, Bloomberg News

Pedestrians outside Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. Stock markets are still not entirely sold on Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover of Twitter Inc. after the billionaire revived the deal at its original price earlier this week. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Twitter Inc. shares extended losses for a third session on Friday, widening the gap between Elon Musk’s $54.20 per share offer as deal talks are said to be stuck over a debt financing contingency.

Shares in the social media firm closed 0.4% lower at $49.18, after slipping as much as 2.5%, as concerns surrounding the transaction’s funding persist. Those uncertainties have kept Twitter’s stock about 9% below the offer price.

The stock is now down for a third day after soaring on Tuesday when Musk made a surprising U-turn from his effort to back out of the deal, potentially avoiding a contentious courtroom fight.

On Oct. 3, the Tesla chief executive officer said his offer is contingent on receiving $13 billion in debt financing. Then on Thursday, Bloomberg reported talks to reach a deal resolution are stalled, in part, on the new contingency, according to people familiar with the matter.

On the same day, a Delaware judge halted a court case against Musk over his takeover of Twitter, giving the parties more time to complete the deal.

(Updates stock moves and the chart at close)