Public companies are limited in what data they can provide to potential buyers. In general, they can't provide any more than what's in their public statements.

Public companies are limited in what data they can provide to potential buyers. In general, they can't provide any more than what's in their public statements. The SEC enforces this rule to ensure that all investors have access to the same info. Also, when buying public companies, you have to be extremely careful not to let word get out before it's publicly announced. It's easy to imagine a Twitter employee tasked with sending logs to E.M. Acquisition Corp leaking this particular bombshell to the press. So it's normal to make an acquisition bid based only on their publicly reported numbers. The acquisition contract provides for a due-diligence phase that happens between when the deal is announced and when it's final (ie, now) where the buyer can verify that there aren't material misrepresentations in the public filings. If there are, they can back out. Everything about this process is normal, except the hyperventilating press.