Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover Clears Major Hurdle After Antitrust Waiting Period Expires Without Any Further Action Being Taken

Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter cleared a major hurdle recently as the antitrust waiting period expired without any further action being taken.

The expiration means that the deal has dodged a lengthy review and that completion is now subject to remaining customary closing conditions, including approval by Twitter stockholders and any other regulatory approvals.

As Reuters explained, under antitrust law, deals are reported to the U.S. government for review by either the Justice Department or the Federal Trade Commission.

If either agency had filed a “second request” for documents, the deal would have faced an investigation that could have lasted months, Reuters noted.

Shares of Twitter were up about a half a percent at $40.10 following the news being reported.

Previously, we reported that shares of Twitter jumped in after-hours trading following a reported new SEC filing that shows Elon Musk has upped his committed money to $33.5 billion.

Musk is also in talks with Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey and others to help finance, or roll their shares over, to complete the deal, according to CNBC.

Although Musk said last month the deal was “on hold,” he also said that he was “still committed to acquisition.”

Musk sent a letter to investors backing the holding company that he is forming to take Twitter private further expressing his commitment to the deal.

Despite that, Musk suggested at the All In Summit tech conference in Miami that the deal should be done at a lower price, potentially, given his concerns about inauthentic activity and accounts on the platform.

Twitter shares rose more than 5%, and were up over $39 per share at the time, while, as CNBC noted, Tesla shares have dipped slightly.