Elon Musk's US$44bn offer to take Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) private could be pulled if it isn't repriced lower, a short-selling firm claimed yesterday.
Hindenburg Research, which has a short position in Twitter, said: "If Elon Musk's bid for Twitter disappeared tomorrow, Twitter's equity would fall by 50% from current levels.
"Consequently, we see a significant risk that the deal gets repriced lower," said the trading firm
Hindenberg, which is literally talking its book, added that Musk "holds all the cards".
Tech shares took another beating overnight in the US and Twitter was down 4% to US$47.76, the lowest level since Musk made his US$54.20 per share offer in April.
Musk has until the end of the year to raise the money to buy Twitter with the deal also needing shareholder approval.
Speculation has been growing that Musk might back out with suggestions that what he has done so far is just an elaborate troll-fest.
Ending his bid interest will cost Musk US$1bn in termination fees according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on April 25.
"We are supportive of Musk's efforts to take Twitter private and see a significant chance the deal will close at a lower price," Hindenburg said, Reuters reported.
The short-seller said if Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s chief walked away and paid the breakup fee it would give him tremendous leverage to renegotiate.