- Major Wall Street banks and large Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) holders Fidelity and the Saudi Arabia wealth fund were "blindsided" by Elon Musk's tweets two days ago on taking the company private, according to The New York Times.
- The NYT is also reporting that Tesla is exploring an alternative to a leveraged buyout in an action that has investment bankers salivating. "A full buyout is probably a nonstarter, but buying out enough shareholders to let the company delist its stock is more possible, and could be worth up to $20 billion" reasons the publication. That potential lucrative action already has firms like Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) scrambling to shoulder to the front of the line.
- The huge investment banker fees hanging in the wind are also likely to throw an even brighter spotlight on some of the sell-side analysis from firms bidding for Tesla banking business. Meanwhile, on the Tesla side of the equation, the "going dark" scenario of buying out smaller shareholders in a LBO alternative almost assuredly requires (costly) help from investment bankers.
- Shares of Tesla are down 1.20% premarket to $365.80.
- Now read: Tesla's Silly Price
Original article