UPDATE 2 – Musk’s $44 billion buyout of Twitter threatens US antitrust review – report

(Adds background with objection to transaction)

May 5 (Reuters) – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reviewing Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter Inc, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the deal.

The FTC declined to comment, and Musk could not be reached for comment.

The agency will decide next month whether it will conduct an in-depth antitrust review of the proposed transaction, the person told Bloomberg. Such a probe would delay the closing of the deal by months.

Antitrust experts have said the agency is unlikely to find any evidence that Musk’s purchase of Twitter is illegal under antitrust law.

The FTC is already investigating Musk’s original purchase of a 9% stake in Twitter, whether he complied with antitrust reporting requirements when he acquired the stock in early April.

One of the critics of the agreement was the Open Markets Institute, which said it should be stopped to avoid giving an already influential man “direct control over one of the world’s most important platforms for communication and public debate.” He also cited the fact that Musk owns the Starlink satellite communications company as a concern.

The agreement has support from Republicans who hope that conservatives who were banned from the site, like former President Donald Trump, will be able to return.

Although Musk has tweeted about free speech, when he discusses plans for Twitter, he is more focused on helping revenue by getting more people to use it or cutting expenses such as executive pay. He hasn’t said anything publicly about allowing banned former users to return. (Reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni and David Gregorio)