Twitter demands day in court after Elon Musk asks judge to halt upcoming trial
Twitter has demanded its “day in court” after Elon Musk asked a judge to halt an upcoming trial over his $44bn deal to buy the company.
In another day of drama for the Twitter takeover saga, Musk’s lawyers revealed that a last-ditch bid by the Tesla chief executive to avert legal proceedings had foundered.
After spending months in a high-stakes court battle to get out of his April agreement to buy the social media company, Musk reversed course on Monday and offered to close the deal at the original price of $54.20 per share.
“Twitter will not take yes for an answer,” Musk’s lawyers said in the filing.
“Astonishingly, they have insisted on proceeding with this litigation, recklessly putting the deal at risk and gambling with their stockholders’ interests.”
In response, Twitter said Musk’s surprise proposal to close the deal included unacceptable clauses and was an “invitation to further mischief and delay”.
“Until defendants commit to close as required, Twitter is entitled to its day in court,” said the company.
The five-day trial regarding the deal is scheduled to begin in Delaware on 17 October.
In a filing at the Delaware court of chancery, Musk’s representatives had argued the deal could close on or about 28 October without a trial. The alternative, it added, is a deal-closing process that could take months – even if the trial goes ahead and Twitter wins.
Musk’s representatives argued in the filing that they have done “exactly” what Twitter has asked by offering to close the deal on the agreed terms.
It added: “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.”
The filing claimed that Twitter was refusing to accept a pause
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