Shares of Twitter plunged in premarket trade on Friday after a report Biden administration officials are considering subjecting some of Elon Musk’s ventures to national-security reviews.
Twitter TWTR, +1.18% shares plunged 9% to $47.64 in premarket trade, below the $54.20 per share buyout price.
Bloomberg News reported late Thursday that some U.S. officials have become concerned in recent weeks by Musk’s Russia-friendly tweets and his threat to cut off Starlink satellite internet service to Ukraine. The Tesla TSLA, -6.65% and SpaceX CEO’s pending $44 billion acquisition of Twitter has also reportedly drawn concerns because of its foreign investors, including a Saudi prince, Binance Holdings — a crypto exchange that was initially based in China — and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.
Citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said discussions are still in the early stages and officials are trying to figure out what regulatory tools are available to them. One option could be a national-security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the report said.
Separately, Bloomberg also reported late Thursday that Musk’s lawyers and bankers are preparing paperwork for the Twitter deal to be completed ahead of a Oct. 28 deadline, and that relations between Musk and Twitter have turned cordial rather than adversarial.
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