Musk May be Forced to Complete Twitter Takeover; Google Attempts to Placate DoJ with Voluntary Concessions

by Hannah Dillon on 11th Jul 2022 in News

In today's ExchangeWire news digest: Elon Musk may be forced to complete the Twitter buyout he walked away from last week; Google offers several compromises to prevent a potential antitrust lawsuit; and Atlassian abandons the UK for broader opportunities in the US.

Musk may have to complete abandoned Twitter deal

Elon Musk may be forced to complete his planned takeover of Twitter, despite rescinding his offer to buy the social media company for USD$44bn (£34bn) on Friday (8th July).

The billionaire cited the lack of transparency over spam accounts on the site as the reason behind his withdrawal. According to legal experts, however, a US court could force the Tesla-boss to follow through on the deal.

Following Musk’s decision to terminate the Twitter deal, the platform’s chairman tweeted that the company wholly intends to “pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement”.

Google offers compromises to stave off DoJ

Google

Google has volunteered several concessions in an effort to prevent a potential antitrust lawsuit from the US Department of Justice.

The proposed concessions include the tech giant splitting the parts of its business that auction and place advertisements online into a separate Alphabet Inc.-owned company. Depending on the assets held within this separate firm, it could be worth tens of billions of dollars.

The move has signalled to some that legal pressures mounting against Google are reaching a breaking point.

Atlassian heads for the US in a blow to the UK

Software giant Atlassian is leaving the UK for the US market in a major blow to London’s aspirations to develop into a global hub for tech.

The Australian firm, currently listed on Nasdaq for £45bn, is reportedly crossing the pond in order to access a wider range of tech investors. In April of this year, the company’s head of investor relations advised that the firm’s relocation would support its inclusion in “additional stock indices”, in addition to allowing the company to operate in a streamlined structure.