On Friday, Elon Musk filed a motion opposing Twitter Inc’s (TWTR.N) request to expedite a trial over his plan to terminate his $44 billion deal for the social media company.
In papers filed with the Delaware Chancery Court, Musk’s lawyers stated that Twitter’s “unjustifiable request” to expedite the merger case to trial in two months should be denied.
It is the latest development in what is expected to be a major legal battle between Twitter and Musk. The San Francisco-based company is attempting to end months of uncertainty for its business as Musk attempts to back out of the deal over Twitter’s “spam bot” problem.
Twitter sued Musk on Tuesday for breaching the terms of the deal to buy the social media platform, asking a Delaware court to order Musk to complete the merger at the agreed-upon price of $54.20 per share.
Because the merger agreement with Musk expires on Oct. 25, the company requested that the trial begin in September.
“Twitter’s sudden request for warp speed after two months of dragging its feet and obfuscation is its latest tactic to conceal the truth about spam accounts long enough to railroad defendants into closing,” Musk wrote in his filing.
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Musk’s lawyers argued that the dispute over false and spam accounts is critical to Twitter’s value and requires a great deal of research and expertise. They claimed that discovery would take a long time and asked for a trial date on or after February 13 of next year.
Bank debt financing committed for Musk’s acquisition expires in April 2023. That means that if the trial begins in February and is not completed by April, the deal could fall through.
