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NEW YORK. – Twitter Inc was yesterday poised to agree a sale to Elon Musk for around US$43 billion in cash, the price the chief executive of Tesla has called his “best and final” offer for the social media company, people familiar with the matter said.

Twitter was set to announce the US$54.20-per-share deal later yesterday once its board has met to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, the sources said, adding it was still possible the deal could collapse at the last minute.

Musk, the world’s richest person according to Forbes, is negotiating to buy Twitter in a personal capacity and Tesla is not involved in the deal.

Twitter has not been able to secure so far a ‘go-shop’ provision under its agreement with Musk that would allow it to solicit other bids once the deal is signed, the sources said. Still, Twitter would be allowed to accept an offer from another party by paying Musk a break-up fee, the sources added.

Musk, a prolific Twitter user, has said it needs to be taken private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech. – Reuters