While Elon Musk’s public musings to take Tesla private in 2018 resulted in nothing more than a slap on the wrist courtesy of the SEC, his dogged determination in trying to acquire and subsequently “fix” Twitter has taken many by surprise.
When an SEC filing revealed that Musk had become Twitter’s largest shareholder on April 4, hardly anyone could have predicted that he would go on to buy the entire company. Back then, the assumption was that he would probably join Twitter’s board and try to make his voice heard that way.
After that option fell through, however, it was widely assumed that Musk would move on to greener pastures while possibly making a nice profit from selling his Twitter stake. Instead, Musk doubled down on his mission to improve what he calls “the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”
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World’s largest buyouts
Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, worth approximately $44 billion, is one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history. According to Twitter’s announcement of the deal, Musk has secured $25.5 billion in loans, backed in part by his own assets and in part by Twitter’s assets, to finance the deal. He will also be providing roughly $21 billion in cash, although it his yet unclear how he plans to raise that amount.
Here are some of the world’s largest buyouts.
Image Credit: Flickr / Brad Holt.
8. Heinz
- Buyout: $23 billion
- Year: 2013
Purchased by an investment consortium made up of Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital
Image Credit: Heinz.
7. Dell
- Buyout: $24 billion
- Year: 2013
Founder Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners acquired Dell in a leveraged buyout, taking the company private.
Image Credit: Dell Technologies.
6. Alltel
- Buyout: $25 billion
- Year: 2007
Purchased by two private-equity firms, TPG Capital and GS Capital Partners
Image Credit: Alltel.
5. Hilton
- Buyout: $26 billion
- Year: 2007
Purchased by private-equity firm Blackstone, which turned the company private
Image Credit: Hilton.
4. RJR Nabisco
- Buyout: $33 billion
- Year: 1989
Purchased by global investment company KKR & Co
Image Credit: RJR Nabisco.
3. HCA Healthcare
- Buyout: $33 billion
- Year: 2006
Purchased by a private investor group including KKR & Co, Bain Capital, Merrill Lynch and HCA Healthcare founder Thomas F. Frist, Jr.
Image Credit: HCA Healthcare.
2. Twitter
- Buyout: $44 billion
- Year: 2022
Image Credit: Twitter.
1. Energy Futures Holdings
- Buyout: $45 billion
- Year: 2007
Created after private equity firms KKR & Co, TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs acquired TXU Energy and its affiliated companies.
Image Credit: Energy Futures Holdings.
Methodology
Statista used data from Dealroom and media reports to determine some of the largest leveraged buyouts in history. Note that the Twitter buyout is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
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This article originally appeared on Statista.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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