Elon Musk seeks to block Twitter request for expedited trial
Musk pulled the plug on his offer for Twitter in early July, disputing Twitter's internal estimates of how many spam and fake accounts are on the platform
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Elon Musk is against Twitter's request for a speedy trial over his plan to terminate his $44 billion deal for the social media firm.
Shares of Twitter were down about 1% in extended trading.
In a Friday filing, Musk's lawyers said Twitter's "unjustifiable request" to rush the merger case to trial in two months should be rejected.
The filing was done with the Delaware Chancery Court.
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Twitter sued Musk on Tuesday for violating the deal to buy the company, asking a Delaware court to order that the merger be completed at the agreed price of $54.20 per share.
The billionaire has said he believes at least 20% of Twitter's users could be spam, fake accounts (Getty images | istock)
The company asked that the trial begin in September because the merger agreement with Musk terminates on Oct. 25.
"Twitter's sudden request for warp speed after two months of foot-dragging and obfuscation is its latest tactic to shroud the truth about spam accounts long enough to railroad defendants into closing," Musk's filing said.
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On July 8, Musk's lawyers said he would be abandoning the deal, claiming Twitter is "in material breach of multiple provisions" of the agreement and "appears to have made false and misleading representations" when it accepted Musk’s acquisition offer on April 25.
In this photo illustration, a Twitter logo seen displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The notice came as Musk and his legal team have been disputing Twitter's internal estimates that spam and fake accounts make up less than 5% of its users.
Musk's lawyers say the dispute is fundamental to Twitter's value and extremely fact and expert-intensive and will take substantial time for discovery.
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They are asking for a trial date on or after Feb. 13 next year.
Elon Musk’s Twitter account is displayed on the screen of an iPhone in front of the homepage of the Twitter website. (Chesnot/Getty Images / Getty Images)
However, if a trial is pushed that far back there are concerns the deal could collapse as the debt financing package committed by banks for the acquisition expires in April 2023.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWTR | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 357.09 | +11.93 | +3.46% |
Twitter declined to comment on Musk's latest motion.
Reuters contributed to this report.