With everyone desperate to discover just who is funding this debacle of an LBO/MBO, Bloomberg is reporting that Musk and Masayoshi Son held talks last year about SoftBank investing in Tesla, including potentially taking the electric carmaker private – but talks broke down over disagreements on control.
Son and Musk met in April 2017 to discuss an investment in Tesla, the people said.
The talks touched on taking Tesla private, but failed to progress due to disagreements over ownership. Musk proposed a structure that would have given him disproportionate control over the company through stock with super-voting rights, one person said.
There are no active talks between the companies now, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.
Investors are unsure whether to be excited (Softbank ‘were’ interested) or troubled (talks are over).
Perhaps more worryingly for Tesla shareholders, The FT reports that Softback is said to see Tesla as overvalued.
The hunt for the mystery “funding source” of Musk’s buyout continues…
“Most of the obvious funding sources for Tesla’s take-private transaction are foreign-based,” Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., wrote in a note. “We imagine the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. would likely object to any foreign investor buying a significant portion of a distinctively American manufacturer such as Tesla”
And for now, TSLA bonds ain’t buying it…
