New York — Elon Musk’s lawyers said Thursday that Twitter is refusing to accept Tesla’s $44 billion bid to buy the social media company and are asking a Delaware court to stop an upcoming trial.
Musk made a renewed offer to take over the company earlier this week, hoping to end a protracted legal dispute that began when Musk tried to renege on the April deal and Twitter sued.
Twitter representatives did not immediately respond to messages for comment.
Twitter said earlier this week that it intends to close the deal at the agreed-upon price, but the two sides are still booked for the October 17 trial in Delaware over Musk’s earlier attempts to close the deal. On Wednesday, the judge presiding over the case said she would continue to press for the trial because, at the time, neither side had formally moved to stop it.
Musk’s lawyers said the trial should be postponed to allow more time for Musk to secure funding.
“Twitter will not accept a yes answer,” said the court filing, signed by Musk’s attorney, Edward Micheletti. “It is surprising that they insisted on moving forward with this lawsuit, recklessly putting the deal in jeopardy and gambling with the interests of the shareholders.”
Since Twitter sued Musk to force him to complete the purchase after trying to back out four months ago, the San Francisco-based company — whose shareholders voted to approve the deal — is unlikely to pull out of the agreement.
Instead, Twitter will likely seek reassurances from Musk that he is serious this time around and will not quit again.
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