(Bloomberg) — The roster of backers supporting Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter Inc. could soon get much more crowded.
Some potential investors — including hedge funds and wealthy individuals — have been pitched the opportunity to invest $5 million or more in the Twitter buyout, according to people with knowledge of the matter. They’re being invited to commit money through special-purpose vehicles that will pool capital together from a variety of smaller sources, the people said.
One party canvassing investors is seeking to collect $500 million in total, and plans to charge a 5% fee to whoever it brings in. The move could allow a well-connected financier to rope in investors who might not have direct access to the deal, but nonetheless want to join one of the biggest leveraged buyouts in history.
The setup would also provide a way for an investor already participating in the deal to reduce its exposure by using other people’s money. While channeling capital from dozens of parties through a special-purpose fund is common in the venture capital world, it’s rarely seen in the world of public company takeovers.
Getting into the deal through one of these side funds isn’t being sanctioned by Musk, according to a person familiar with the matter. Musk’s existing equity investment agreements have been structured to forbid investors from raising a special purpose vehicle, the person said. If investors do participate in them, they risk losing their shares, the person said.
Still, Musk is open to smaller investors getting involved and has already agreed to accept checks from as low as $5 million, a filing showed last week.
It’s not uncommon to have unsanctioned private stock sales in Silicon Valley.
It couldn’t immediately be learned who was behind the approaches. Investors who were approached have a few weeks to decide whether to participate, some of the people said. A representative for Musk didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Sprawling consortium
Last week, a filing showed a group of investors has committed a combined $7.1 billion to help Musk take Twitter private. The list of investors looked more like a financing round for a company on the verge of an initial public offering rather than a typical take-private. Instead of private equity firms that usually show up in leveraged buyouts, a sprawling consortium of investors offered to join Musk’s bid, with check sizes ranging from $5 million to $1 billion.
The list included funds affiliated with high net-worth individuals like Oracle Corp. chairman and Tesla Inc. board member Larry Ellison, venture firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.
Investment banks are still soliciting additional investors to support the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. Apollo Global Management Inc. is in talks to lead a preferred $1 billion financing for Musk, along with Sixth Street Partners, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
(Updates with details on investment agreements starting in fifth paragraph)
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