Twitter Inc. has brought on a second investment bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., to help respond to Elon Musk’s hostile bid, according to people familiar with the matter.
The largest US bank recently began work to assist Twitter in negotiating with potential buyers, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
representative for Twitter And JPMorgan declined to comment.
In addition to Musk’s offering, Twitter is fielding acquisition interest from other parties, including technology-focused private equity firm Thoma Bravo, according to one of the people familiar. The New York Post reported Thoma Bravo’s interest on Thursday.
A representative for Thoma Bravo declined to comment.
In bringing in JPMorgan, Twitter is working with a bank that isn’t afraid to wrestle with Musk. Tesla Inc., the electric vehicle company of JPMorgan and Musk, is embroiled in lawsuits.
They are suing each other over stock transactions, some linked to Musk’s tweet in 2018 that he had obtained funding to take Tesla private, an effort that was abandoned weeks later. Both sides are to appear in court next week.
JPMorgan is the latest Wall Street heavyweight to join Musk’s quest to buy Twitter, and has joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to help strike a deal with the 50-year-old billionaire. Working with Morgan Stanley Musk.
missing out
JPMorgan’s involvement is also a blow to boutique investment banks, which are competing for market share against a rapidly growing bracket.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Twitter was mentored by boutique advisory firm Allen & Co in 2020, when the company ran with activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
This time around, no boutique investment banks appear to be involved, although companies are adding more advisors as the transaction progresses.
Goldman, who has historically been close to Musk, was contentious from advising the billionaire because of his longstanding relationship with Twitter, being the leading bank in a failed attempt to take Tesla private in 2018.
Twitter on Friday adopted a so-called poison pill, a measure to help protect it from more takeovers of the company from Musk. This move may give the board more time to decide how to proceed.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.