Apollo Global Management Bows Out of Musk-Twitter Deal

Apollo Global Management and Sixth Street, which both were set to provide financing for Elon Musk to buy Twitter, have backed out of those talks, Reuters wrote, citing unnamed sources.

Musk and Twitter have been in a court battle following Musk’s shift away from his offer to buy the company earlier this year.

Apollo and Sixth Street were both part of talks to try and finance a deal earlier in the year.

There was a lot of commotion around the issue as of Wednesday (Oct. 5), with Musk reversing course from his recent position of not wanting to buy the company, and saying he wanted to buy the social media giant at the initially-agreed price of $54.20 per share.

This caused a 22% spike in Twitter shares and cut out much of the discourse about the shares and Musk’s deal price.

On Wednesday, the judge presiding over the case Twitter v. Musk et al., regarding Musk’s agreement to buy the social media company, said that, with no actions from the parties to the contrary, there was still an Oct. 17 trial scheduled.

Apollo’s involvement comes from the question of how fast Musk will be able to close a deal for the social media company, along with what debt and equity financing will be used. The deal has seen banks committing $12.5 billion in debt for the deal. Musk is currently on the hook for $33.5 billion for the deal, which could come with numerous equity partners.

Apollo, Sixth Street, Twitter and Musk did not reply to a request for comment from PYMNTS.

PYMNTS wrote about Musk’s offer earlier in the week, writing that it could potentially change the outcome of the impending court situation.

Read more: Musk Offers to Acquire Twitter for Original Price

“We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC,” a Twitter spokesperson told PYMNTS. “The intention of the Company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share.”

The story stems from last spring, when Musk proposed to buy the company at a total of $44 billion. Musk is a frequent Twitter user himself, often sharing thoughts on various issues in politics and tech among other things.

He’s also become Twitter’s single biggest individual investor as of this year, with a 9% stake. Earlier this year, Musk also floated several informal ideas to change Twitter, including taking the company private and adding digital payment options.