Mega-billionaire Elon Musk, after trying for three months to exit his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, is now frustrated that Twitter isn’t calling off its lawsuit seeking to force him to close the deal.
Lawyers representing Musk, in a filing Thursday with the Delaware Court of Chancery, requested that the trial, slated to commence Oct. 17, be suspended while he works out a deal to finalize the required debt financing to swing the acquisition. Musk expects that to happen by Oct. 28, per the court filing.
In response, Twitter said in a filing with the Delaware court that it opposed halting the trial, saying that doing so was “an invitation to further mischief and delay.”
Musk on Monday informed Twitter that he would proceed with his original $54.20/share offer for the company, valued at $44 billion, after he previously claimed on three occasions that he was justified in walking away from the agreement because (he alleged) Twitter violated the merger terms. Attorneys for Twitter have argued that Musk simply didn’t want to pay what he originally promised because his net worth declined with a drop in Tesla’s stock price.
Musk’s legal team wrote in Thursday’s court filing, “Twitter will not take yes for an answer. Astonishingly, they have insisted on proceeding with this litigation, recklessly putting the deal at risk and gambling with their stockholders’ interests. Proceeding toward trial is not only an enormous waste of party and judicial resources, it will undermine the ability of the parties to close the transaction.”
Twitter argued in its court filing Thursday that the merger “can and should close next week.”
“Until [Musk] commit[s] to close as required, Twitter is entitled to its day in court, to demonstrate its entitlement to specific performances and prove [Musk’s] breaches so as to ensure complete relief in the event the closing should for any reason not occur,” the company’s lawyers said.
Twitter, in responding to Musk’s Oct. 3 letter, had said in a statement, “We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC. The intention of the company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share.”
According to the most recent SEC filing from Musk’s camp, in May, his $44 billion offer for Twitter comprised $27.25 billion in equity financing, $6.25 billion in margin loans and $10.5 billion in debt financing.
Per the Musk filing with the Delaware court, “Instead of allowing the parties to turn their focus to securing the debt financing necessary to consummate the transaction and preparing for a transition of the business, the parties will instead remain distracted by completing discovery and an unnecessary trial.”
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