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posted by chromas on Monday August 13 2018, @09:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the $ dept.

Musk Says 'Funding Secured' Claim Sparked by Saudi Meeting

Elon Musk said interest from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund gave him the confidence to drop the bombshell last week that he was considering taking Tesla Inc. private. The Saudi Kingdom's Public Investment Fund had approached Musk going back almost two years about taking Tesla off the market, he wrote in a blog post Monday, confirming that the fund recently bought an almost 5 percent stake. Musk described a July 31 meeting in which the Saudi fund's managing director expressed regret that Tesla hadn't moved forward with a go-private transaction.

[...] Several investors have since sued Musk and Tesla, claiming the company's share price had been manipulated. The Securities and Exchange Commission is said to be intensifying its scrutiny of the company and its chief executive officer after having started gathering general information about Tesla and Musk's earlier public pronouncements about manufacturing goals and sales targets.

One of Tesla's biggest critics, Vertical Group analyst Gordon Johnson, read Musk's blog post as a walk-back maneuver from his "funding secured" tweet last week. He cited Musk's statement Monday that the Saudi fund's support for taking Tesla private was "subject to financial and other due diligence and their internal review process for obtaining approvals." "He is specifically stating that funding is not secured, and I think that's a big deal," Johnson, whose $93 price target on Tesla shares is the lowest among Wall Street analysts, said on Bloomberg Television. "The question then becomes, what does the SEC do here, and do the shareholders stick with him?"

Also at CNBC.

Previously: Elon Musk Considers Taking Tesla Private


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  • (Score: 2) by Fluffeh on Monday August 13 2018, @10:07PM (3 children)

    by Fluffeh (954) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 13 2018, @10:07PM (#721147) Journal

    It's a smart move for the Saudis - ween off oil economy, get a head start on the oil-killer. I do wonder how it will go with US regulators. Many countries have some very specific rules about external interests and owning massive/important companies.

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  • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday August 13 2018, @10:32PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Monday August 13 2018, @10:32PM (#721155)

    The US is very picky about external takeovers, but the Saudi are our Best Buddies, so that would be fine.
    ... Except that traditional car makers will freak out at the amount of money suddenly becoming available to Tesla, and invite every lawyer they can find to read the anti-muslim anti-SA terror laws passed after 9/11, to try to get their many congresscritters to kill the deal and potentially Tesla in the process.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 14 2018, @12:59AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 14 2018, @12:59AM (#721195)

    It's a smart move if Tesla's value increases. $420 per share for a company that is on the ropes is not cheap.

  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday August 14 2018, @08:07AM

    by Bot (3902) on Tuesday August 14 2018, @08:07AM (#721277) Journal

    >It's a smart move for the saudis indeed
    Embrace extend (price, not mileage or efficiency) and extinguish.

    --
    Account abandoned.