Wall Street banks have successfully offloaded $5.5 billion in debt tied to Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X, marking a critical step in one of the most challenging merger-finance deals in recent years.
According to the Financial Times (FT), banks led by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Barclays managed to sell large portions of the loan package to investors on Wednesday, following a $1 billion sale last week. Surging investor demand helped facilitate the offloading, providing relief to lenders who had been stuck with the debt since Musk’s 2022 takeover.
Originally, banks were forced to finance the deal themselves after Musk’s controversial leadership and market volatility dampened enthusiasm for the debt. While this latest sale has reduced their exposure, they still hold an additional $6 billion in riskier debt linked to the acquisition.
The financing group also includes MUFG, BNP Paribas, Mizuho, and Société Générale. While Morgan Stanley and Bank of America declined to comment, the remaining banks have yet to respond to inquiries.
